Can I Help You by Dawn White

Can I Help You?

Scripture:  Is. 6:8

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?”  And I said, “Here I am Lord, send me!”

Over the past several weeks, our teenagers have been gone quite a lot, sometimes for several days at a time.  This has given me a lot of individual time with our 6 year old daughter.  When it is just she and I at home, she sticks pretty close to my side.  As I’m doing household tasks such as cooking, cleaning, yard work, etc., I often hear these words from her – ‘Can I help you?’  If it is a task that’s suitable for her, I set her up to ‘help’ me.

As she begins helping me with the task, her commitment to the task is directly related to how much fun she thinks it is.  Once it becomes a little redundant or requires something she doesn’t want to do, her enthusiasm wanes.

Perhaps you know where I’m going with this.  We are often in the role that my daughter is in and God is the role of the parent.  I often find myself wanting to serve God and asking Him ‘Can I help you?’  Those words roll off my tongue very easily.  And yet, my commitment is really no different than that of my 6 year old. 

When the task or assignment He gives me is new and fresh, I have much excitement with it.  When the new wears off, my enthusiasm tends to wane.  And, if the assignment gets a little messy, or presents a ‘thorn in my side’, I begin to question if I heard the Lord correctly.  I will tell myself, ‘Surely God doesn’t want me to go through all this hassle.  I must not have heard correctly.’

But Jesus said in Mark 2:17 – “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Friends, it is the lost that we need to be reaching out to.  And because they are lost, the assignments sometimes get messy.  Let’s face it, sin is ugly, which means the assignments can be yucky!  But that’s who Jesus is focused on.  This doesn’t minimize His love or the importance of those who are already saved.  It simply means that now you are saved, it’s time to roll up your sleeves, get dirty, and go after those who are still lost.  They need to receive the touch of Jesus through us.

Let’s briefly go back to the scenario with my daughter.  Her words to me – ‘Can I help you?’ shed light on her perspective.  In her mind, she is genuinely helping me.  The reality is, I am able to accomplish the task, in most cases, without her help.  But it does bless her to ‘help’ me.  She does get some training in household tasks.  And, she feels good about herself knowing she has helped me.  

And so it is with God.  He is the creator of the universe and the author of life.  He hung the stars and the moon, created all animal and plant life, formed Adam from the dust of the earth, and formed Eve from Adam’s rib.  God doesn’t need us to accomplish the tasks before Him.  But He allows us to ‘help’ Him because it does train us, and it blesses us to know that we are helping the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

I recently read of a large church where an older gentleman attended.  The church building was absolutely beautiful and God was alive and moving in the services.  Every Sunday the older gentleman sat with tears streaming down his face through the service.  This went on service after service.  Finally someone in the church approached the man and asked him about his struggles.  The older gentleman shared a blueprint.  The blueprint was of the very church building the services were in.  You see, God had given this man the task, but for various reasons, he didn’t stick it out.  He quit when the going got rough.  As he attended services there, he realized that God had used someone else to accomplish the task.  His heart was broken and he struggled to move past the guilt.  He eventually did move on, but it was a tough mistake to get over.

Friends, God doesn’t need our help.  He allows us to help Him.  Why?  Because we receive the blessing.  But we have to be willing to ‘get dirty’ in some assignments.  It isn’t easy, but it is worth it!  I challenge you, when you hear the Lord asking, ‘Whom shall I send?’  Step up with ‘Here I am Lord, send me’ and be ready to stick it out through the good, the bad, and the ugly.  You will receive the blessing!