I read a comment on Facebook the other day, and it plunged my thoughts into meditation on a very fitting and very important topic for this 2020 year, and for the Christmas season.
In a nutshell, to paraphrase what I read, spells out the interesting fact that helping others and receiving help from others are compatible with each other. Meaning, in order to fully understand service to others, you should be okay with receiving service for yourself.
So, this simple thought made me think deeply about why it is so hard for me personally, to accept help. Why do I make life so much harder for myself that I can't admit that I need others to step in and do things for me?
There seem to be a few reasons for this: Firstly, I think that our society pushes us to either be ultra independent, or ultra dependent on family and others, and there is no emphasis on the in between. There are SO many ways to DIY our lives or just call and have someone take care of things for a reasonable price. Why worry about imposing on the people of our tribes to help us, when we can overreach and do it ourselves, or pay someone to do it?
We are particular. We want things done the way that we want them. We have become a bit obsessive compulsive in how our lives are led, and we want to be the main characters in every facet of our lives. And yet, it's just too much. We burn out. We get overwhelmed and then the guilt sets in, and we feel like total failures in our lives.
There is also this sense of pride in juggling all of the balls of our lives. We all want to feel successful, accomplished. But, as I realized in my pondering of this subject, we were never meant to be this way. If God intended for us to do all things ourselves, he would have designed a planet for each of his children, and left us to our own selves to figure things out as individuals. And he wouldn't have provided a Savior in His grand Plan of Salvation, of happiness.
But God didn't do that, did He? He put us all together on this Earth, and firstly commanded us to love Him, and THEN, to love others. To love is to serve, right? Well, to RECEIVE service, is also to love.
Let me give the utmost example. For all of my life, I believed that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came to this Earth to do what no one else could have done. He was prepared to suffer and die for us, and He did it perfectly. That part of Christ's life, I believed correctly. What I failed to see, however, is that Christ did NOT serve his mission here on Earth without having to ask for help.
He had disciples. Twelve of them, to be exact, that He taught and guided to serve those around them. We read in the New Testament that Peter, James, John and the others, were taught to be aware of those around them, and to serve them. Jesus served the people, but He not only allowed others to serve Him; He welcomed it. What about the woman who washed his feet with her tears? He could have just told her not to worry about that, and counseled her as He did.
Or how about how many times He accepted the hospitality of Lazarus, Martha and Mary? Or others that opened their homes to Him. Couldn't He have just provided for Himself? He could do it all, right?
But He didn't.
Ultimately, and most importantly, He asked for God's help ALL OF THE TIME. We are commanded to pray and ask for help from God, and, of course, Jesus is a perfect example of this. There are so many examples of Him asking for help.
So, let me pose the very same question that I posed to myself as I thought this concept over:
"If Jesus asked for help, then why can't I?"
Let that sit for a bit. Let it marinate. Let it settle in your heart. Let it affect you like it did me.
On a second note, I don't know the mind of God or why He does all that He does, but I do believe that He wants us to accept help, because He wants us to know that we aren't alone. That we DON'T HAVE TO DO IT ALONE!!
So, at the end of this crazy weird year, let us serve others. Let us continue to reassure others that they are not alone.
AND LET US RECEIVE HELP FROM OTHERS! Because, we deserve it. Because God loves us, and wants us to feel deserved of His love.
Because we DO deserve it!
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