Help comes when ______? There could be many ways to complete that sentence. As a church we have started going through the Beatitudes in the gospel of Matthew. Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed (happy and fulfilled) are the poor in spirit.” Matthew 9:10-13 also can be connected with this
because Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees who had an issue with him eating with tax collectors and sinners, said that “those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (v.12) … “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (v.13). Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees in
the passage above, the religious and knowledgeable, that we must acknowledge that we have a need, that we aren’t able to be or walk rightly with God on our own…we need help! They thought they were good, they didn’t have a problem, they didn’t need help. They were good with God and not “poor in spirit,” as the tax collectors and sinners ‘clearly’ were!
When we respond to the ongoing call of Jesus to follow him and rely on him, we position ourselves to be helped in this life in the ways that we really need it. All other attempts, reliance on anything else, will result in frustration and loss (John 15:5). In order to acknowledge or admit something there needs to be humility. Peter speaks of this in 1 Peter 5:5-6, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”
So how would I complete the sentence? Help comes when… we humble ourselves and acknowledge or admit we need help.
It seems so simple right!? I have learned, and I am still learning, that just because something is simple does not make it easy to do! Admitting our need for help or acknowledging we can’t do something can make us feel weak and powerless. We do not want to humble ourselves or be seen as weak in the eyes of those around us even though we know that it's the right thing to do. Take heart, follower of Jesus! The apostle Paul encourages us at this point by saying, “Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25).
Let’s humble ourselves constantly and even ask God for the desire to humble ourselves. Ask and you shall receive Jesus said!
