Helping Hand

As seen in the HEARTbeat and the Village Voice

“Helping Hand”

            What does it mean to lend a helping hand?  Does it mean to help those who are less fortunate than yourself?  Maybe it is helping someone out of a bad situation?  Or could it be, as some have said, “Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps!”  (You’re welcome for the John Wayne imagery!)  Depending on the situation or circumstances, the phrase “Helping Hand” could mean a multitude of things.

            My father was one for pulling over on the highway and helping.  I never saw a moment’s hesitation in his actions to help.  This didn’t stop with people.  My mother used to get so frustrated with him, as he was always coming home with some stray dog, cat, injured bird, and on one occasion even a baby rabbit.  Even with his internal drive to help and to serve, he was one for teaching as well.  I learned many skills from him, but the most important was to help myself.  I can remember his wise words, “Son, I’m willing to help you, but you’ve got to be willing to help yourself.”

            People want to help others.  This drive is just part of our DNA.  But we also want to see people making the effort to improve their own situation in equal amounts to the attention we are giving them.  Even so, there are some who are so far “down” it’s hard for them to find a way out.  I’ve helped numerous people, counseling them and directing them to others much more equipped than I am.  It takes a specially trained hand to pull them out of their darkness.

            As I write this, I’m reminded of one of the most famous “helping hands” ever extended.  The disciples had helped Jesus feed 5,000 men, not counting the women and children, with only 5 loaves of bread and two fish – a helping hand extended by a little boy to Jesus.  The disciples gathered up 12 baskets of leftovers!  The people had eaten their fill.  Jesus sent them home, sent the disciples across the lake in a boat while He retired to the mountainside to pray and grieve the loss of His cousin John.  A storm blew up and kept the boat from making any headway on the lake.  Shortly before dawn, Jesus set out walking on the water to the other side of the lake.  Mark 6:48 gives us a unique account not given in the gospels Matthew or John.  The verse in Mark reads, “He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.  Shortly before dawn He went out to them, walking on the lake.  He was about to pass by them.”  Do you see it?  Jesus’ original plan was to pass them by!  He saw them in need, so He stopped to lend a helping hand.  He even extended a helping hand to Simon Peter, the one who stopped looking at Jesus and looked at his circumstances around him and began to sink in the lake.

            God told Joshua after he was chosen to lead the people into the promised land, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  That is still true.  We can go through today knowing God is always with us, and He is always ready to extend a helping hand to us.  Feel His helping presence with you today and be blessed!