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Matthew 20:29-34 (New International Version)
I love this passage. Jesus is again with a large crowd. Jesus is called out to. The crowd wants Him to have nothing to do with those calling out, but Jesus stops. He gives them his full attention.
What do we know about those calling out? We know that they are blind. They have a definite need. And they called out to Jesus.
When we are in community, in our small groups, prayer partnerships, if we are in need we should call out for help. We should obviously call out for help to Christ, but also to the people He has put us in community with.
But the part I truly love about this passage is Christ’s response. He doesn’t immediately walk over, fix the problem and continue on. He simply asks them, “what can I do for you?”
I think I love that because it’s so simple, but it is often not how this kind of situation goes. Instead, we often fail to ask for help when we need it. And, if we are the ones giving help, we often dive in and provide help to those around us without asking them what it really is that we can do for them.
Years ago a dear friend of mine was hurting deeply over a tremendous loss. I went to her and asked what I could do. To be completely honest, I had no idea. I knew I couldn’t change what had happened or in any way reduce the loss she had experienced. I had no clue how to help. Had I just stepped in and tried to “fix” on my own the fix would probably have been a few meals prepared and brought over.
Instead, we decided to just go for a walk together. This walk changed our friendship. We talked and listened to each other and cried over the terrible loss.
She later told me that she was hurting so badly that she didn’t know how to do much more than to just say “help” and that she really needed me to follow up with her to figure out better what that help could be. To this day she is one of my dearest friends and I truly believe it is because of that walk. That walk is also a great reminder to me to make sure to ask “what can I do for you?”
I hope that this week as we spend time together with those that we care for that they will be willing to ask for help when they need it and that we will love them enough to ask, “what can I do for you?” and that we will then do it.
~ Deana Kistner
September 6th, 2007 at 5:24 am
That’s a great bit if insight. I know there have been occassions when I knew somebody was in need but I didn’t help because I didn’t know how. It’s easy for me to fall into the trap of thinking I need to come with a solution rather than simply and humbly asking “How can I help?”
Another thing that strikes me from this passage is that the blind men called out for help. Often I think we hide our needs, even from those who are close to us. We live in such a self-reliant culture, that it’s hard to ask for help. It’s true for women, but it’s particularly true for men. We think we can handle it, or we want to appear that we have it all together. Depending on the circumstances it may take considerable trust and humility to ask for help.
That’s one reason why it’s important to get into a next step partnership even if you don’t think you need one. There are lots of other benefits to Next Step Partnerships than just having people there to help when you’re in need. But my point is, if you wait until you really need help from people, you won’t have the trust and the relationship built.