The sooner we can learn to accept help graciously, the sooner we will see the blessings God has planned for it, Shelly shares.
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'” (Matthew 25:40)
Chalk it up to pride. Call it stubborn. Maybe willful.
However you choose to describe it, one of the most difficult aspects of chronic illness and disability is the necessity of accepting help.
Ouch.
No one wants to be “the least of these.”
We all want to give help. We want to be the answer to prayer. It makes us feel weak to accept help. It makes us feel hopeless to ask for it.
And yet, God has been convicting me.
Receiving is not passive.
Receiving is submitting. Accepting is playing an important part. Asking is admitting that you are just like the ones you’ve helped before. . . and will again, in small and big ways.
At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: <em<“The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little” (2 Corinthians 8:13-15).
It waxes and wanes and we’re a part of every step. Just as much so as a receiver as when you are the giver.
How else would you know how to offer comfort, when your turn comes?
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:3-50.
Sometimes God sends His comforts with skin on. And oh, those are the loveliest of messengers. A sweet water to parched lips. Arms wrapped tight around more than just our heart. Sweet, sweet whispers or shared silence that heals and mends what we thought was forever an open wound.
Will you submit to receiving today? You’ll be the giver tomorrow.
Prayer: Father in Heaven, help us to lay aside our pride and be willing to receive the help we need. Help us to allow others to fulfill their calling, by being the empty vessel in need of filling. Thank You for giving us purpose in our powerlessness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
About the author:
Shelly Hendricks is a wife and mother of 2 amazing kids. She was a teacher and a librarian in another life. She also suffers from Intracranial Hypertension and Essential Tremor, among a myriad of other issues mostly stemming from these two. She had brain surgery in 2012, to install a VP Shunt, and had a revision in January of this year. She now considers herself to be a ‘bionic woman’ who is learning to walk again. Disability has been hard to deal with, but she depends on God for all strength and hopes to encourage others on this journey, through her blog at http://reneweddaily.com
What help have you been needing? Is today the day to lay aside your pride, and receive?
This is a song with some pretty perfect lyrics, so I hope you will take a moment to listen. Shelly picked it out and it is a song I will remember, called “More Than You Know” by the group Watermark. Lovely! -Lisa
Chronic Illness Pain Daily Devotionals 