Life’s Best Helper
Since my stroke almost two years ago, my wife has been a caregiver for me. If you have never been a caregiver or do not personally know someone who provides care for someone else, just let me say, it is a never-ending and exhausting job. We so often ask the “patient” how they are going, but rarely check in on the person helping make that person’s life easier. I also know that most caregivers, if not all, have the person they are caring for on their mind all the time.
While I can navigate life mostly on my own, I do need help from time to time. My wife provides me with so much caregiving, always so naturally, so gracefully, so selflessly, and with so much love. If you know a caregiver, give them some love too. I work hard to not allow her constant “help” to become a crutch, whereby I cannot do anything without her assistance. That would be harmful for both of us.
We all need helpers to navigate life. Life is not meant to be done alone. I need you. You need me. I help you. You help me. I begin to fall. You prop me up. You begin to lean, I tilt you back up. That is just how God wired us. God is a very relational being and he desires us to be relational as well. To be all that we were made to be, we need the help. Help from others but even more so, help from God. Just as we get help from others by being in relationship with them, we also get God’s help my staying attached to him.
As Jesus’s earthly life was rapidly coming to a close, he gave the best locker room speech of all time to his guys. John Chapters 14-17 is known as the Farewell Discourse. In that pep talk, in 15:1-11, Jesus makes the point that once we become Christ-followers, we become His branches. Notice what this passage tells us – God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, and his followers are the vine. The quality of the vine, and ultimately the branches, depends largely upon the skill and care of the gardener. Fruit is produced as His life flows through us; a Spirit-filled life (Ephesians 5:18) that produces this fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).
The word Jesus uses to describe this relationship is abide (“meno” in the Greek), defined as “to stay.” We are called to remain united to Jesus, one with Him in heart, mind, and will. We are designed to be branches, and we are only fruitful for the long haul by “abiding” in Him. Jesus tells that very clearly in v.5 – “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Another time, earlier in his ministry, Jesus was talking to His disciples about how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:16-30). I am sure the disciples were dumbfounded, asking – “Who can be saved?” (v.25). Jesus probably astounded them even more by responding – “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (v.26). This response emphasizes the truth that salvation is not something we can achieve on our own. It is only through God’s grace that we can have everlasting life. I believe that this verse is more than just about salvation. It applies to all of life. It tells us to not be limited to what we think is possible on our own, but instead to fully trust in God’s power and His plan. We do this by abiding in Him.
So, today, and every day, will you abide in Jesus, knowing that in and through the abiding, He strengthens you – “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). He is life’s best helper.
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