Asking For and Receiving Help

I like to be independent. Don't we all?

But then something happens, like spraining my ankle, and I need help. I become dependent. And it's hard. To go from doing everything myself to needing everything done for me is quite a humbling and difficult thing to experience. 

I hate it. It's difficult. No one offers help: I have to ask for it. And I feel bad for needing so much help. It'd be easier if someone was offering. 

There is a stigma with asking for help. We like to be independent and asking for help looks weak. And anyway, who'd want to help us? 

I'm in the midst of a difficult day. My body is sore from the crutches and the physical exertion it is taking, and I'm just frustrated. I'm frustrated that I can't do things on my own and frustrated again that this injury happened because of the inconvenience it's caused. 

So, in the midst of my emotions and tears, I sought refuge in Scripture. Thinking about all this dependence led me to think of a verse in Isaiah. When I read it, I found more than I anticipated. Here are the verses I found: 

"This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee! You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill." Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you." -Isaiah 30:15-19

If you have't made the connection, let me point it out to you.

The people basically wanted to do it all themselves...they didn't want the Lord's help. And they were frustrated as a result, because their enemies pursued them. All the while, God is waiting to be gracious to them, to help them. He will be incredibly gracious when they cry out to Him for help. As soon as He hears, He will answer them.

I want to do it all by myself. I don't want the Lord's help. And I get frustrated. I'm just like the people. And all the while, God is waiting to be so incredibly gracious to me. The part that gets me is, "How gracious he will be when you cry for help!" How gracious....

It's not only difficult for me to ask those around me for help with physical things, but it's also difficult to ask God for things. But, how gracious He will be when I do cry out for help. And, as soon as He hears, He will answer me. He won't delay. He won't say, "I'll be there in a minute after I..." He answers immediately.

I'm still caught up in the gracious part. How gracious He will be when you cry for help! Wow. He wants to help. But He doesn't force it upon me. He waits for me to cry to Him. But when I do, I can be sure I won't be inconveniencing Him. Actually, it's the reverse. I'm inconveniencing Him when I don't ask for help or when I don't receive what He wants to give to me/do for me. Ha! Isn't that a thought?!?

He is waiting, ready and willing, to help me when I cry out. How gracious He will be....