Help!

“Help!” is the shortest, most primal prayer.  It acknowledges our insufficiency for whatever is in front of us.  It’s humble. 

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my young grandchildren lately, and they need a lot of help.  They need a boost to get to high places, their shoes tied and their coats zipped, a push from behind when they’re riding their bike up a hill.  But in all those cases, they also make their own attempts.  They don’t passively expect me to do it all.  

I think God looks at us the same way.  He wants to help us when he sees that we’re making our own attempt, pushing those pedals as hard as we can.  It’s then that we get the push from behind to bolster our own efforts.  

As an adult, there’s a lot I can do on my own.  But if I’m honest, there’s still a lot I can’t do.  I’m just learning how to parent my adult children, learning to “stay in my lane” as my son gently reminds me.  I’m learning to help my elderly mother without violating her independence and autonomy.  I’m learning to be a grandparent, learning how to be retired but still productive, learning how to stand in solidarity with others to make the world a better place.  I still need help.  

I’m reminded of the wedding at Cana, Jesus’ first miracle.  The wedding celebration had been planned and provisions bought.  But they ran out of wine.  Only then did they let their need be known and Mary told Jesus, “They’ve run out of wine.”  She trusted that he’d care and know what to do –  to see their efforts and how those efforts had run short.  Jesus told them to fill jugs with water (which probably didn’t seem all that helpful at the time).  They did their part, and then Jesus did his, turning that water into wine. 

God knows what to help us with when He sees what we’re working on. Like a good parent, God knows that if he just did everything for us, we would never grow in our own skills and strength.  My tendency is to work and not ask for help, to assume that I’ve got this when I don’t.  I need to remember to ask, to invite the help.  

The other tendency is to be passive, to do nothing and expect God to magically fix untenable situations.  Most of us are fed up with people facing tragedy and being satisfied with sending thoughts and prayers. What if, instead, our prayer was followed up with whatever God told us to do, however fruitless or downright foolish it seemed.  

The invitation here is to do what you can right now.   Push those pedals while praying “Help!” and see what God makes of your jugs filled with water.