Please God Give Me What I Want
According to an ancient parable – or you may call it an anecdote – a man fed up with his life ran out into the woods at the edge of town, threw up his hands, clenched his fists and railed at God:
“I can’t go on with my life. Your earthly household is filled with nothing but injustice and chaos. Some people go gallivanting ’round town in expensive cars and dine in fine restaurants, while others fend for scraps at garbage dumps. Me, for instance – why; I ain’t got enough money to buy me a new pair of shoes. If You, God, are just – that is, if You exist at all – then make my lottery ticket hit the jackpot.”
At that moment the clouds parted in the heavens, a warm sunbeam caressed the complainant’s face and a calm, clear voice sounded from above:
“Do not worry; My son. I am prepared to fulfil your request”
The man was overjoyed. He walked along the street with a smile on his face, happily peering into shop windows and imagining what kind of goods his lottery winnings might buy. A year passed. The man won nothing. He concluded God had let him down. Now the man, who by this time was really fed up, went back to the same place in the woods where he had heard God’s promise and cried:
“You didn’t keep your promise to me, God. You let me down. I’ve been waiting for a whole year now. I’ve been dreaming about the things I’ll buy with the money I win. But a whole year’s gone by; and I ain’t got no winnings yet.”
“Oh, My dear son,” came the sad response from the heavens.”You wanted to win a lot of money in the lottery. So why over the whole year did you not buy a single lottery ticket?”
Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
