Trying to Help

Gimli and Virginia love being the center of our attention. As you can probably imagine, we cannot give them our undivided attention every moment of the day like they would prefer. Sometimes, they decide to force us to give them attention in not-so-subtle ways.  We like to call this "helping". Just yesterday, Gimli decided to "help" Paul take apart some shelves by jumping into his lap, making it very difficult for Paul to get the job done. He does the same thing to me when I'm trying to dust or clean counter tops. He thinks I'm playing with him, so he chases me around trying to steal my rags. Though his intentions are good in wanting to engage with us in what we're doing, the last thing he is being is helpful. Really, he's just getting in the way and making it impossible for us to do the job we need to do. Of course, he doesn't care about clean counters, and probably doesn't even realize that's what I'm trying to do, or why that needs to happen. 

I tend to want to "help" God do His job also. I think I know what the problem is, what needs to happen, and what will work best. In reality, I'm about as helpful as Gimli sitting in Paul's lap while he's working on the shelves. I have no idea what God is doing, or why or how. What on earth can I do to help the almighty God who knows everything that's going on in the world past, present & future & is in full control of everything in the universe? Somehow I think He must have missed something that I picked up on, and He needs my help to fix the problems of the world, or at least my world, which is the most important thing, right?

People have been trying to help God forever. Abraham and Sarah decided to help God fulfill His promise to them that they would have a son & be the father of a great nation by having Abraham have a illegitimate child with their maidservant. As a result, Abraham and Sarah's marriage suffered, Sarah's relationship with her servant suffered, along with many other severe consequences from this decision to be disobedient and "help". Rebekah knew that God had promised her son, Jacob, the blessing from his father, she manipulated circumstances so he would get it by deceiving his brother, Esau. The result of this decision was a complete fall out between these brothers and they lived as enemies for years. Had she not intervened, God may have given Jacob this blessing in a way that didn't destroy his relationship with Esau. When we try to "help" God, we are rebelling against Him. He doesn't need or want our help- he wants our complete obedience to His commands and surrender to His will, whether we understand it or not. 

When Gimli tries to help us, he just gets in the way. If we really want to help God, we will obey His commands without reservation or hesitation. I'm praying that I will get out of the way and let God be God, and me be His faithful servant.