Once, there lived a sage on the banks of a river. There was
a village nearby on the bank of the river and the villagers came to the sage
for advice.
One day a shepherd from the village came to the sage and
told him that the people in the village did not respect him and they treated
him badly. He did not know how to protect himself.
The sage consoled him and told him not to worry and to
depend on God and everything will be all right.
A few days later, there was torrential rain in the region
and the surging waters of the river flooded the village. Majority of the people
escaped to safety except for the shepherd who had taken refuge in the roof of
his home. He kept praying and did nothing to escape from the surging waters.
A villager who saw him stuck on the rooftop swam near him
and offered to save him.
He told the villager that he did not trust him and he only
trusted God who will come to rescue him.
A few hours later, a boat came through the area and people
in it offered to help but he arrogantly told that he would only depend on God.
Soon, he drowned. However, he was rescued by people on
another boat.
They nursed him back to life.
When he gained consciousness, he became angry. He ran to the
sage and told him that his advice of depending on God got him nearly killed.
He wanted to know why God did not come to his rescue.
The sage smiled and told him that in answer to his prayers,
God had sent a swimmer and a boat but he had refused them. It was because of
the infinite mercy of God that another boat rescued and saved him.
When you pray sincerely, God guides you but you cannot
expect him to take over your actions. He has given you brains and you need to
make use of it.