"I Need You"

Are you fiercely independent? Do you rely on your own abilities in almost all circumstances, even when they aren't enough? Do you find it a weakness to seek the help of others? Does foolish pride get in the way of your asking for assistance when you need it? Boy, I certainly could answer affirmatively to most of these questions almost unequivocally in my recent past. Thankfully, God has been changing my heart with respect to seeking help in my weaknesses.

Pastor Mark did a great job again this morning in continuing his series on "The World's Most Powerful Phrases" with his message titled "I Need You". He reminded us that God has created all of us with weaknesses that we cannot fully overcome by ourselves. Think this was by chance? Not a chance! God is God, He created everything and could have made us perfect if He so chose, but He didn't. Why is that?

God wants us to rely on Him in our weaknesses, for one. Pastor Mark pointed out Psalm 121:1 - 2, which states, "I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Who better to come to our aid than the Maker of heaven and earth. I can't think of any better ally in my times of need. What does that help look like? Well, Pastor Mark said that God's help almost always comes in the form of another person. Makes sense as I can't think of recent times, other than in the Old Testament, where God has directly intervened in our lives, other than perhaps the 6 Day War the Israeli's had back in the 60's.

Anyway, this makes total sense to me in that I know with certainty this has been my experience in my life. I have many personal testimonies, the greatest of which is the salvation of my marriage, where God has placed people or groups of people in my life, or my family's, that have made ALL the difference in times of difficulty. The key? Letting those closest to you know that you are experiencing difficulty or need help and let them help as they will be inclined to do so. Being transparent, setting aside your foolish pride, and being authentic are the keys to allow God to work through others to help you.

Pastor Mark's two main points are to: 1. Identify where you are strong (God gifts everyone with some ability or strength) and... SERVE in that capacity and, 2. Identify where you are weak and... ASK. It's hard to humble one's self, take a hard, realistic look at yourselve, identify your weaknesses, and then ASK for help. Kind of a counter-cultural thought in this self-help, self-sufficiency, self-seeking day and age where everyone turns inward and inside.

So, you may be saying to yourself again, well Rick, what the heck does this have to do with running and training for a marathon? Well... I'm glad that you asked! Even if you didn't I'm going to give you my answer anyway cause, heck, it's MY blog! My answer is: I created this blog because to train, prepare for, and run this marathon is daunting and I need you! I need you to post comments, I need you to tell me I am not nutz (even if you want to lie to me in doing so), I need you to support and encourage me. Just thinking about running the marathon makes my stomach flip. All kinds of questions of physical and mental self-doubt surface. I'm just being transparent here. It kinda scares the daylights out of me whether or not I will be tough enough to finish this marathon. So, why do it? To that I say please read my Preface and Purpose for that answer.

So, there you have it, I need you! I'm not too proud to say so and know from experience that when I do ask for help, God will put people in my life that will see me through. I will be relying on the strength of the Lord and my family and friends who will be encouraging me along the way, which I know you will do because... I have asked you to.

Thanks for the great message, Pastor Mark. I'm learning.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" Ecclesiastes 4:10 - 11.

Jennifer, Marion, Tim, Sara, Zoomy, Mike, and anyone else ramping up for a marathon this year, especially a first... you're gonna ROCK your races! You're all training hard and I KNOW you will ALL succeed!