A man set sail from a harbor in Southern California crossing the expanse of the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean. His goal was to reach the French Polynesia Islands. He got further and further away from civilization until he could no longer see the mainland.
A powerful squall appeared and scuttled his boat leaving him stranded in the water with no land in sight. He began desperately swimming for his life and was barely able to reach the shore of an isolated, deserted island.
He had mixed feelings as he was barely able to drag himself onto the edge of the sandy beach. You see, he was grateful to be alive but at the same time he couldn’t believe that God would put him in this situation. What had he done to deserve this? Why would God do this, or at the very least allow it to happen?
He continued to pray earnestly that he would be rescued soon as he knew his time was very limited.
He explored the small island and found some palm trees which he could use to construct a small hut.
He came to love his little hut as it provided him shelter from the weather and the bugs.
One evening as he returned from further exploration of the island he went into shock and disbelief as he saw his beloved hut was completely engulfed in flames. He felt totally helpless as there was nothing he could do to stop it from burning down to the ground.
His multiple feelings began to boil up from deep within. The first to surface was denial. Was this actually happening?
The second was frustration as he began to realize the amount of labor that had been involved and would be involved again in order to build another hut.
His feelings soon transitioned into pity, self pity and then finally to anger.Now he was really upset with God and gave Him both barrels. The single best thing at this time in his life and it had been taken away from him. It made no sense to him at all.
The next morning when he woke up he couldn’t believe his eyes. A U.S. Coast Guard ship was on the horizon coming straight toward him.
He ran to the edge of the island with joy and when they landed he asked them, “How in the world did you ever find me?”
“Quite simple,” they responded,”We simply followed the fire you set.”
That man learned a valuable lesson that day.
A powerful squall appeared and scuttled his boat leaving him stranded in the water with no land in sight. He began desperately swimming for his life and was barely able to reach the shore of an isolated, deserted island.
He had mixed feelings as he was barely able to drag himself onto the edge of the sandy beach. You see, he was grateful to be alive but at the same time he couldn’t believe that God would put him in this situation. What had he done to deserve this? Why would God do this, or at the very least allow it to happen?
He continued to pray earnestly that he would be rescued soon as he knew his time was very limited.
He explored the small island and found some palm trees which he could use to construct a small hut.
He came to love his little hut as it provided him shelter from the weather and the bugs.
One evening as he returned from further exploration of the island he went into shock and disbelief as he saw his beloved hut was completely engulfed in flames. He felt totally helpless as there was nothing he could do to stop it from burning down to the ground.
His multiple feelings began to boil up from deep within. The first to surface was denial. Was this actually happening?
The second was frustration as he began to realize the amount of labor that had been involved and would be involved again in order to build another hut.
His feelings soon transitioned into pity, self pity and then finally to anger.Now he was really upset with God and gave Him both barrels. The single best thing at this time in his life and it had been taken away from him. It made no sense to him at all.
The next morning when he woke up he couldn’t believe his eyes. A U.S. Coast Guard ship was on the horizon coming straight toward him.
He ran to the edge of the island with joy and when they landed he asked them, “How in the world did you ever find me?”
“Quite simple,” they responded,”We simply followed the fire you set.”
That man learned a valuable lesson that day.
