The Help We Need

I’ve had a number of conversations recently, all centered around getting the help we need. That has meant something different in every conversation - from needing a baby-sitter, to needing help making some major changes in life. We all need help at some point, don’t we? And, I would venture to say that we all have an idea of what that help should look like.

That’s what caught me off guard today - talking to someone about the fact that even though we think we know what we need, the help we ultimately receive, doesn’t always look like we think it should.

Think back to childhood for a minute, and about learning to ride a bike. Remember when your training wheels first came off? (There went your help!) But then someone ran along beside you, holding onto the bike while you figured out the whole balancing and keeping yourself upright. That was helpful, wasn’t it?

But what if they had never let go?

You wouldn’t want to be an adult riding a bike, still needing someone to run alongside and hold the bike, would you? Of course not. But when you think about a parent letting go of that bike, knowing that it’s likely the child will fall and get hurt, that doesn’t actually seem like help does it?

And yet, as a parent, we let go of that bike.
We are the help, and we let go of the child on the bike.
And we hope that they don’t hate us when they fall and get hurt.
We hope that they’ll accept our encouragement to keep on trying because they’ve almost got it figured out!

And then, in one glorious moment, there they go - down the street, completely on their own. They did it - because the actual help was in the letting go once we knew they could do it!

I’m pretty sure they weren’t thankful for a “help” that only held on for so long, and then let go. No doubt they weren’t thankful for a help that let go and let them scrape their knees and elbows.

But in the end, they seem thankful for the help that got them off their training wheels, and riding with the big kids.

Sometimes help doesn’t look like we think it should. We would all love the assurance of someone holding onto us as we learn and grow through different stages of life - even into adulthood.

As adults, we maneuver through schedules, jobs, children, co-workers, bills, unexpected blessings, tragic loss, major purchases, big life decisions. Sometimes those are very easy to navigate, but other times situations in our lives can be messy, and we’re just like a child learning to ride the bike, knowing that this is an uncertain time, but that going through it will make us stronger.

We look around for the hand that is supposed to be holding on - maybe it’s a parent, a spouse, a friend. All of a sudden, we realize that while we aren’t truly alone, we’re alone in that moment.

Feeling alone, we might wobble, take our eyes off the goal and fall and get some bumps and bruises.

But we can get back up. We can pray and keep going - “pedal” with all our might - knowing that God wouldn’t bring us to this if He wasn’t preparing a way through all of it for us.

We need to realize that just because we don’t see the help we’re looking for, it doesn’t mean that no help is available to us.

Help won’t always look like what we think it should. Let’s face it - an infinite God created us, and the world around us, and we’re going to try to limit His help to what our minds can understand? No way!

I have found myself frustrated with God at times, demanding what I thought I should have, in terms of help. How foolish. We approach the world with earthly eyes and an earthly understanding.

He’s not limited by our finite minds.

When we’re in need of help, when our help doesn’t look like we think it should, let’s remember that just because we can’t understand the help, does not mean that no help is there. We need to trust that God is always looking out for us.

Lean into your circumstance. Trust that God is right there with you. Keep going through - “pedal” like your life depends on it! Don’t waver and look around and topple over. Fix your eyes on Jesus and realize that He’s making a way through for you.

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