A story is told about a shipwreck that occurred during a violent storm, many years ago. Only one man survived the terrible disaster. Having been washed up on a small, deserted island, the man, a Christian, earnestly prayed daily that God would send rescuers to find him. Each day, he eagerly scanned the horizon hoping to see a ship. But each day ended in growing disappointment.
The lonely survivor eventually managed to build a hut out of some of the driftwood that had floated ashore from his sunken ship. Though very small and crude, the little shanty gave some protection from the elements and served as a storage place for the few possessions that he had been able to save. A tiny tin containing a few waterproof matches which He had allowed him to build a campfire.
Each morning the weary man would arise to begin another day of searching for food and water while collecting firewood. Late one afternoon he arrived back at his hut to find that a spark from the smoldering campfire had ignited the shelter. Now engulfed in flames, with smoke billowing into the clear sky, the fire consumed the hut and everything in it.
The man, filled with hopeless despair, cried out in angry desperation, “God, why did You do this to me?” There was no answer, nor did the grief-stricken castaway any longer have faith to expect one.
That night he fell into a fitful slumber only to be awakened early the next morning by a strange yet familiar sound. Staring out into the ocean, the castaway saw a large ship anchored in the bay. From it, a small rowboat was approaching the land.
When his rescuers reached shore, the dumbfounded man excitedly stuttered, “But, how did you know I was here?”
“Why,” came the puzzled answer, “we saw your smoke signal!”
All too often, when praying earnestly for a special burden, concern or need, the answer does not come in the way we expected. Then discouragement sets in and we begin to doubt our Lord’s love, His ability or His wisdom in ordering the events of our lives.
Perhaps there are times when the more earnestly we pray, the darker and more difficult our circumstances seem to become. Then, in the words of Acts 27:2020And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. (Acts 27:20), we may feel that indeed “all hope that we should be saved was . . . taken away.”
Dear Job certainly found it so during the heavy trials through which he passed. He cries, “The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.” Later he complains that God “breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.” But one (Elihu) faithfully reminded Job that “all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit.”
Ed.