Can God Really Help You?

How did you get on yesterday? Did you start a chain of love?

God has been speaking to me recently about looking for opportunities to be a blessing to people. I find it quite hard, not because I don’t want to, but because I feel stupid or embarrassed. However, as I have begun to push through these feelings, I have found myself enjoying helping people and feeling better for it.

Recently we have had some really bad snow and ice locally. I drive a Land Rover, so for me, it hasn’t been such a problem. As I have been driving around there have been many opportunities to help people. The first time I offered a struggling walker a lift, she turned me down because she wasn’t going far, but looked really pleased to be asked. Another opportunity presented itself, and then another and another. Each time, the recipient was incredibly grateful, if surprised.

Why do we find it so hard to help people? God created us to be a people that lived and worked together. We are meant to help each other. Yet in today’s modern world, so many people feel that they have to appear to be self sufficient. Is this a symptom or a cause? Have we stopped helping people, so they are afraid to ask for fear of rejection, or are people refusing help, so we stop offering for fear of rejection. I think it is self perpetuating and I think it is time to break the cycle.

When we struggle with our weight, and are perpetual dieters, we are in danger of becoming self absorbed. We are always thinking about ourselves and how we need to lose weight. That means we are always thinking about food, and the more we think about food, the more we want it. Ironically, if we start looking outwards, instead of inwards, we will forget about food until we are hungry and our body tells us that we need it.

Jesus told us that Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy our lives. He works by deception. One of his most effective strategies is to break down relationships. He tells us that no one cares and convinces us not to care in the process.

Jesus loved to help people. If Jesus saw a need, he met it. Remember the wedding, when they ran out of wine. Jesus didn’t say “tough, you should have thought about how much you needed, it’s your own fault”. Jesus saw a need and he helped the couple out. He turned water into wine. Jesus showed that he cared.

It’s time to start showing that we care. The more love we throw out, the more we will get back, the better we will feel about ourselves and the less we will seek comfort from food.

The Bible tells us that we reap what we sow, sow love and you will reap love. Help others and they will help you. Give and you will be given to. God loves to see us behaving like this. The more we bless other people, the more God will bless us. Guess what? You can’t out give God.

The more love and goodness grow within you, the less hold food will have on you.

Today

Spend some time thinking about what you did yesterday. If you started a chain of love, how did it make you feel? Did you have to overcome any nerves or thoughts of feeling stupid? Maybe you loved every minute of it. If you didn’t do it, think about why not. Were you too busy, or afraid of rejection or embarrassment? Did you forget?

Write down all your thoughts and feelings. As we go through the next few weeks, keep looking back over the notes and see if any of your feelings change.

Keep looking for opportunities to be a blessing.