I will be the first to
admit, I sometimes have a hard time asking for help. Even in simple things, like household
chores. I have that voice of independence
and pride that wells up in me that says, “I can do it myself; I don’t need any help.”
Perhaps that is why
Philippians 4:13 is one of my favorite verses, “I can do all things through Him
who strengthens me.”
But in the very next verse,
there we encountered that troubling first word; YET! Paul says in verse 14, “Yet it was good of
you to share in my troubles.”
As Paul writes these
final words from prison to his Philippian friends, two things come to light for
me.
First, the Philippians
were willing to SHARE in his troubles. It is such a gift when someone willingly
enters your pain with you. People who
are willing to sit with you, empathetically listen, not to offer advice, have all
the answers, or try to “fix it,” but just show that they truly care. Have you had friends like that?
Second, Paul did not depend
on their gifts, knowing that God would always supply his needs. Yet he realized
their sacrificial gifts of love were opening the storehouse of God’s vast
blessings for them. What they were willingly
giving was not subtracting but adding to their account.
Fear causes us to focus
on what we will lose. Courage causes us
to focus on what we will gain.
During this time of crisis,
how can you lean into the “YET?”
Maybe it means rethinking
your resistance to accepting or asking for help. By refusing help you maybe denying someone a
beautiful blessing God has stored up for them.
Or maybe it means having
the courage to enter someone else’s pain, depending on God’s vast storehouse of
riches to supply their needs and yours too.
Lord, give me the courage
to focus less on what I will lose, and more on what I have to gain by letting
go and trusting You.
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