Since we all need help it comes as no surprise that people often ask,”What will help me?”. Give them credit, at least they recognize their need of help and are seeking it. That puts them miles ahead of those who don’t. They truly want help, and there’s usually no shortage of suggestions.
A spiritual minded friend might suggest prayer, and that’s good. A recovering drug addict might say,”A twelve- step program”. Others might suggest a good book, a respected counselor, a clinic,or a number of other things. But I’ve got another suggestion. Instead of asking,”What” will help me?, how about asking,Who” can help me? That might seem like splitting-hairs, but there is actually an importance difference. As someone said, “Too many have joined the movement of Christianity rather than surrendered to the Man of Christianity”.
As strange as it might seem, we Christians sometimes forget that it is Christ Himself who is our Helper. That’s a serious mistake. We end up trusting religion rather than the Redeemer. The truth is that our greatest help is found in a person, not a plan or program. That person is Christ. It is He and nothing else or no one else that enables us to “do all things”(Phil. 4:13) and supplies “all your need”(Phil. 4:19). Sometimes we pray for power as though it was something other than Christ.Fact is, He is our power–that’s the way we should look at it. Whether we need power, provisions, peace, or whatever they are all found in Him. It is for this reason that we must keep “looking unto Jesus”(Heb. 12:2). We need to see Him as our need–the One who supplies all our other needs. The One who indwells us enables us. As we yield ourselves to His Lordship and depend upon Him all our needs are met. Even in Christian service, it is what He does in us and through us that matters, not what we do for Him. There is a big difference between the two.
If we make it all about what we do rather than what He does we will wear ourselves out– in short order everything becomes a burden rather than a blessing. When we depend on Christ, not only does He get the job done, He gets the glory. Never underestimate the power of Christ. We can do nothing without Him and all things through Him. Bible study and prayer are important, but strictly speaking it’s not prayer that changes things, but Christ. And while the Bible is true, giving us good direction, Jesus is the “Truth”, — the One who takes us where we should go rather than just telling us. Look to Him for all your needs. He can help!
