I Sent You a Boat

The story is told in every pulpit and half the pubs of Christendom, and it needs no introduction to anyone who has sat through a homily on trust. A flood comes. A man climbs onto the roof of his house and prays. A neighbour rows past in a canoe and offers to take him off; he declines, saying that God will save him. The water rises; a motorboat comes; he declines again. The water rises further; a helicopter lowers a line; he waves it away. He drowns. Presented at last before the throne of God, he asks, with some justice as he sees it, why his faith was not rewarded. And the answer comes: I sent you a canoe, a motorboat, and a helicopter. What exactly were you waiting for?‍