Over the years, his influence has helped me to be more accepting of help. However, in the past year I have had to rely on help from others more often than I would like. I feel grateful for so many people around me that are more than willing to assist me and my family with so many of our needs. These people never seem to tire of giving service. Yet sometimes I feel frustration that I am in need of so much assistance. I feel like one of my daughters when she was 2 years old. The first phrase she uttered was, "I do it myself." Most of her two-year-old tantrums were because she wanted me to let her do something on her own. Sometimes I feel like a tantruming two-year-old: I want to do it myself.
However, I think of when that daughter was two-years-old. She wanted to do things like use a knife and reach things up on top of the refrigerator (both of which I found her doing on more than one occasion). She wanted to buckle her own carseat buckle and tie her shoes. Somethings (like when I found her on the kitchen counter cutting and orange!) were not safe for her to do herself, even if she was capable. Other things she just didn't have the capability to do on her own. She needed help. And so do I.
I believe that God wants us to accept help from Him and from others. In reality, He is helping us everyday, so we need to acknowledge the help He is giving. But He also wants us to ask for help.
In the book of Hebrews, Paul invites us to ask for this divine help.
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Sometimes I ask for help in prayer and then when somebody offers the exact thing I need, I feel reluctant to accept! Here I am, witnessing a miracle as I ask for help to get something done and somebody is inspired to offer the exact service I need, yet I still fall back into my old habits of being uncomfortable accepting help.
As with anything new that we are trying to master, practice will help us improve. I am in a time in my life,when I am getting a lot of practice in accepting help. Hopefully, with practice I can learn the humility required to accept help from others. Hopefully, I can also learn to better accept the help that my Savior offers me. He extends His arm of love and mercy to me daily and often His help comes through another. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to see how dependent I am on my Father in Heaven. He has been directing my footsteps and helping me my entire life. But now, where I have such diminished capacity, it helps me to realize how much I need his amazing grace.
