I love the story of the man who sat on his roof while floodwaters crept up his house. The man cried out to the Lord to be rescued. There were plenty of opportunities. He declined a ride in a kayak. He waved off a small fishing boat. He dismissed a helicopter hovering overhead. Each time he professed with ever growing indignation, “I will wait for the Lord Almighty to save me from the flood!” He was convinced the Lord would perform some spectacular miracle and deliver him from his roof.

Soon after, the water reached the roof and the currents swept the man away to his death. In Heaven, the man told an angel, “You know, I was faithful my entire life. I’m surprised God did not answer my prayer.”

After the man complained still more, the angel interrupted him in a stern voice, “God sent you a kayak, a fishing boat, and a helicopter. What more did you need?”

Clearly, the man had his own idea of how God should deliver him from the flood, but God did not cooperate. We’ve all been there. “God, I know you’re the Almighty, but I believe I have a better understanding about this situation.” We often bring our concerns and requests before God, and then we give him a choice of acceptable resolutions and a time frame in which to accommodate us. We are surprised and sometimes angry when the Creator disregards our human logic and reasoning.

GOD WILL BE FAITHFUL
Patience! In James 5:7-18, James simply reminds us that God will faithfully attend to our needs in his own time and in our best interests. All we need to do is hang in there and trust him.

Money concerns? He knows best. Health failing? Relax. He’s got you covered. Feeling betrayed by a colleague, friend, or spouse? Be still and know that he, not you, is God.

James gives us two excellent case studies from the Old Testament to help reassure us God will remain faithful. For example, we know things didn’t go quite like Job had planned. Even with his wealth vaporized, his children dead, and his wife out of the running for the “Supportive Spouse of the Year” award, Job remembered who was in control. And “the Lord’s plan finally ended in good” (James 5:11, New Living Translation). Likewise, the prophet Elijah trusted God to show a wicked king who was actually in control.

GOD GIVES US EACH OTHER
And thankfully, we are not left to sort through these things alone. Our walk with Christ is not designed to be an independent study, online workshop, or private correspondence class. In fellow believers we have a built-in system of support and accountability. It is easy to ask for prayer for a distant relative’s illness. We can barely wait to add our newborns to prayer lists. But James challenges us to lean on one another when we’ve failed as parents, when a compulsion is ransacking our lives, and when we’ve used unscrupulous means to advance our careers.

There is power in numbers. When God’s people pray, he listens and answers and our lives can be changed.

My dad passed away at far too young an age. When asked about it in the months after his death, I normally offered a good Christian line. “No, I’m not bitter. I’ll miss him, but who am I to question God about such things?”

But that line often was a facade. It has been 12 years, and I still want to scream, “No fair, God! He never got to meet his grandson. He never got to enjoy a summer barbecue at my house. I still need him, you know.” If it weren’t for godly people praying for God to mend my broken heart and bless my family, I am confident we wouldn’t have pulled through that awful time like we did.

We know some trouble is bound to come into our lives. Let’s take James’s advice and pray for each other. Pray for the wisdom to recognize the rowboats, motorboats, and aircraft God sends when we’re clinging to a roof and floodwaters are lapping at our heels.

He is God Almighty and he loves us. What more do we need?

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* All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version, unless otherwise indicated.