Personal Photo: Here is the lovely bouquet that my mom and sister-in-law, Katrina, picked up for me. I love the vibrant colors! And as I sit here today and admire them, I am excited to come back home from the hospital with our little boy and get to enjoy them with him too. I feel so blessed! :)
I sat upright, pushing my back against the cushions of the couch, and my eyes settled on the vase of flowers on my coffee table. I never put fresh flowers here; they always go in my dining room on my buffet, or in my kitchen by the door, but I had asked Clay to place the bouquet in our family room. They were an array of lovely blooms, shades of yellows, light oranges, and peachy roses.
My mom and sister-in-law had gone grocery shopping today, and while they offered for me to come along, I fought such intense back pain and general discomfort from being nine months pregnant that I felt it necessary to pass. Even though I could not go with them, they still picked up some groceries for me, some new clothes for our soon-to-be-born little boy and treats to brighten my day. One of those things was this stunning bouquet, and since I have a hard time being comfortable, I spend a lot of time on my couch, looking out the window, eating meals, and more, which is why I wanted them here in the room with me.
The truth is that the end of pregnancy has been a struggle for me, and I have been working through a lot of the emotions, physical restraints, and insomnia the best I can, but not really too well. Today was particularly challenging for one reason or another. However, just seeing my mom and sister-in-law helped brighten my day, and we got to eat lunch together and enjoy a bit of time before they left.
One of the hardest parts about pregnancy for me was accepting help. As time went on, I realized I needed my husband to tie my shoes for me, I couldn't walk as fast without needing to pause and catch my breath, I needed my mom to lift the heavy groceries for me, and more. I am not great at accepting help, and it makes me feel as though I am not pulling my weight when I need to ask for assistance. As I sit here and write this article with my pretty flowers on my coffee table and my pantry and fridge stocked up, I realize that so many of us do this in our walk with Christ. We feel indebted to Christ for His gifts to us, we struggle to accept His outstretched hand when we stumble, and we fight the need to ask for His guidance when we know we should.
While I believe to some extent that we are all guilty of refraining to ask God for help in times of need, we sometimes need the reminder that we most certainly should go to Him with our requests. Asking God for help does not make us weak or ungrateful for everything He has already done for us, but rather it makes us human. We cannot navigate this world on our own, and God works in the background without us even knowing or asking Him to do so. That being said, we have the chance to recognize our own inability to handle life alone when we humble ourselves enough to accept God's helping hand. Hebrews 4:16 tells us "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." This verse is important when we consider needing God, as it reminds us that we will receive grace. Grace is the gift of understanding when we seek refuge in the Lord's embrace. Grace is what balances out the Law of God, and we find it at the base of the cross. Jesus is why we receive grace from the Lord, and when we remain faithful to God's promise in the gift of grace, we can accept His help with gratitude.
One of the biggest misconceptions about accepting God's help is that we often forget that God wants to help us. He loves us so dearly that He sacrificed His only son so that He can give us the gift of salvation. The gift has already been given, so when we deny ourselves the intimacy of depending on the Lord, we do not save God from needing to sacrifice Jesus. We are only hurting ourselves, straining our relationship with God, and not accepting His loving gift to us of eternal salvation. In this way, we can recognize how important it is that we take a step back, humble ourselves, and recognize that we do need the help, we need the guidance, we need the gift of intimacy with God. Philippians 4:6-7 states "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." These verses remind us that when we turn to Him, when we accept His outstretched hand, we are rewarded with peace. Instead of mindlessly struggling on our own, trying to figure it out by ourselves, we can accept His help and be better for it.
Help is designed to take pressure off of us, it is meant to aid us when we truly need it, and it can be one of the hardest things to accept. However, we all need help at some point or another. None of us can go through life without needing a little assistance every now and then. When we do, we can turn to God and find Him standing there, right beside us, with His hand towards us, eager to pull us up and show us the way to relief. Psalm 23:1-6 reads "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." These verses highlight the eagerness of the Lord to help us. He never fails to provide to us the peace that we so desperately need when we find ourselves in need of assistance. He is there at every turn, He listens to every prayer, and He is the answer to every problem.
Needing help is not a weakness but refusing it when we need it most certainly is. It is just as important to accept help as it is to offer it when someone else needs it. We are sinful and imperfect humans, and we need help; all of us need it. Not only do we need to accept the gift of eternal salvation, which is the only way we could ever enter Heaven, but we also need help in smaller, less extreme ways as we navigate our lives. God reaches out to us every single day in different ways and through different avenues, and we have the ability to accept His outstretched hand, to take it and trust that He will give us grace, guide us where we need to go, and provide to us peace that the world could never understand. He uses loved ones, strangers, and more to support us when we need it, and recognizing these people and gestures as blessings from God can encourage us to accept the help that they offer to us. It is time we all accept God's offer of intimacy, His loving guidance, and take hold of His outstretched hand!
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