Flood Story & Lesson

A flood threatens a town, forcing everyone to evacuate, But Joe thinks, "I’m a devout man, God will save me," and stays put. As the waters rise, Joe’s neighbor comes by and says, "Joe come with me, we’ve got to go." Joe declines, "I’m a devout man, God will save me."

The waters keep rising, Joe scrambles to his second floor. A firefighter in a rowboat comes by. "Get in the boat or you’ll drown," he says. Joe again declines, saying, "God will save me."

Finally, the flood waters force Joe to his roof. A police helicopter comes by and throws down a rope. "Climb up or you’ll drown," the policeman yells. "No, I’m a devout man, God will save me," Joe replies.

Soon, Joe drowns.

He arrives in heaven and challenges God. "Why didn’t you help me?"

"What do you mean?" God says.
 
"I did help. I sent a neighbor, a firefighter and a helicopter."

Like Joe, many of us wait for something to rescue us while we miss opportunities to help ourselves. Whether in our business lives or personal lives, we hope for a transforming event. A terrific new customer, a great relationship, a better family life.

But life isn’t like that. Like Joe, if we want things to be different, we have to do something ourselves. But where to start? How do we learn to recognize an opportunity when it comes our way?

Make a plan - Form a vision of what you want to achieve, then develop a plan of how to make that vision a reality, To judge whether an opportunity is one to seize or let pass you need to Understand whether it fits your goals.

Make a commitment - Get used to saying no, Get used to saying yes. But whatever you do, do it with commitment and conviction. Like Joe, we have to learn to recognize opportunities and then grab them.

Remember "The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord, can stand up to anything."