The Help of a Father

I am amazed at how quickly my daughter can become incapable of doing anything when you ask her to pick up her books or her room or the living room, etc. It is as if she loses all sense of ability and forgets all she knows and she can just sit there, not knowing what to do or where to begin. She becomes helpless.

However, if Joe or I stop what we're doing and simply sit down and help her, she can accomplish anything. 

Alone as a parenting tool, this is helpful. However, let's take this one step farther...

To me, this is a beautiful reminder of how God is our Father and our Helper. 

Sometimes, life can seem overwhelming and we don't even know where to begin. However, we have access to the Great Helper at all times. His agenda is never too full to sit and help us sort things out and determine our next step or task.

There are also times when we begin thinking we need no help and we attempt life on our own. This approach isn't great either. Though we may not look like we're "falling apart" and incapable, we're missing out on the important things-relationships. We were not created to check things off our trusty to-do lists. We were created to be in RELATIONSHIP. First and foremost with God. And then also with people. 

Too often, we find ourselves happy to do things alone, and we forget that we need the help of a Father or a God-sent friend. Our pride gets in the way, or perhaps our infatuation with perfection. And as a result, we get the task accomplished or the line item crossed off our list, but we feel empty at the end. And, after continuing on in such a way for some time, we finally realize that we've MISSED IT. We've missed the point of it all. We've missed the opportunity to trust, to care, to love, to let the Holy Spirit use us as part of something bigger than ourselves.

So, as you take a moment today to reflect, consider asking the Lord to help. Help to do the overwhelming things, and also help to do the things you've always done on your own.  Ask Him to help you view common things with new eyes, so that you may depend upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

After all, don't they say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting to get different results. Let the Holy Spirit take you to a new place today with the Help of our Father. May your day yield different results because you dared to consider that perhaps you don't really know it all.