I Need Help

That phrase can mean something as minor as drying the dishes or as major as an immediate crisis. We all need help. Sometimes that help will be more long term while for others it is immediate.

The blessing and challenge of the Christian life is that you are at the beckon call of others. You want to be there when needed but sometimes the challenge comes when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet those needs. Again, it can be as simple as assisting with a church supper or as difficult as a marital crisis.

Any good relationship is built on dependability. Will you be there when I need you? There is something powerful and freeing when I know that someone cares for me in the little things as well as the big. This is especially to be true in the Church, the body of Christ. There is such a thing as healthy dependency among Christians. We need each other and we rightfully bear each others burdens. I must not only be willing to help but to be helped as well.

There is no more beautiful picture of that kind of love than in a Christian marriage. A place where help is so readily given and received. Yes, we are messed up people and our sin and selfishness all too often get in the way. We use our needs for manipulation rather than growth. We should be helping each other to depend not primarily on what I can give but on what Jesus has given. A good marriage is a giving and receiving marriage. We give because he gave. We help because he has helped us. In his ultimate calling Jesus did what no one else could "help" him do. "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28

The more we understand the cross the better we will be as husbands and wives. It will become more second nature to help and be helped because of what he has done for us. Perhaps we have forgotten the depth of what Jesus actually did when he died. And when we do remember we truly become partners in life who love to help each other for all the right reasons.

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped..." Psalm 28:7

Now go help your husband or wife.