Who's Your Helper?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+118:7&version=NIV1984

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+54:4&version=NASB

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13:6&version=NIV1984

Let’s get straight to the point.  We all need help in life.  All of us.  I don’t care how talented you are.  Or how capable you are.  Or how energetic you are.  There are times when you need help.  In fact, those times are much more frequent than most of us care to admit.

We need help when we have our hands full and need a door opened.  Or when something is too heavy for us to lift by ourselves.  Or when our kids are out of control.  When we’re on top of a shaky ladder.  When we’re taking something out of the oven and the phone rings.  We need help understanding a recipe.  Or putting something together.  We need help when we have 3 children who need to be in 3 different places.  All at the same time.  We need help when our vehicle won’t start.  Or we’re involved in an accident.  Or sick with the flu.  Or simply overwhelmed by life.

Just recently I have become aware that when I need help, I immediately look for the closest human.  So if I have my hands full and need the door opened, I ask the nearest person I see for help.  Or if my vehicle breaks down by the side of the road I immediately call a friend or family member.  Or flag down a passing motorist.  At work I seek out the nearest staff member.  At home I immediately begin to look for my wife.  “Honey, could you please come here for a moment.  I need your help.”  When my children were younger and still lived at home I looked for one of them.

Now looking for a human to help isn’t bad.  After all, they are close by.  They often give tangible, immediate help.  And many times they are glad to do so.  But what I’ve recently discovered is that when I have a need, my first instinct is to look for human help.  Instead of looking to God.  Of course, we all know that if the dirty dishes are piling up that God probably isn’t going to miraculously wash them for us.  Or fix our flat tire.  But just the same, there are many times when God could help.  And wants to help.  But we don’t ask.  And He won’t butt in.  So we either substitute someone else to help us in His place.  Or we forgo His help altogether.

I must say that this revelation is a bit embarrassing.  I keep thinking that I am farther along in my relationship with God than I actually am.  Then God reveals the true state of things in my life.  I have to admit that often times God’s number is not on my speed-dial.  But everybody else’s is.  Why is this?  Why is God often the last person that I call on for help?  Part of the reason has to be that I am not living as close to Him as I should.  How sad.  Filled with thoughts of things I need to get done, and the worries and concerns of my day, I often don’t give Him a second thought.  If this is the case, it’s only natural that when a mini-emergency comes my way that I look elsewhere for help.  Shame on me.  I need to be more aware of God’s Presence in my life.  And His willingness to help.  Because that is His nature.

Over and over, the Bible says that God is our Helper.  He can help us with physical needs.  Emotional needs.  And spiritual needs.  In fact, Helper is one of the names of the Holy Spirit.  In John 14:16, Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.”  God as Helper.  That’s kind of a unique thought in many religions.  God is seen as a demanding God, one who is looking for servants.  Not for people to help.  But the Bible tells us that our relationship with God is a 2-way street.  While He is, indeed, looking for worshipers and people who will serve Him, He’s also looking for people to help.  Because He wants to help.  Because He knows that we need it.

So the next time you get to the end of your rope, the next time you get overwhelmed and need assistance, ask yourself, “Who’s my helper?”  The correct answer is God.  He is your Helper.  And mine.  And He is available just for the asking.

Lord, I confess that many times I look to others to help me instead of You.  Now while the help of others is valuable, the help You want to give me is infinitely better.  And it’s not just the help.  It’s the relationship.  It’s the fact that You want to help.  That You care about me so deeply that You wouldn’t want it any other way.  May I look to You more and more as my Helper.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.