THE HELP WE NEED

Are you getting what you want out of life? Or do you feel that the economy, government, or other outside factors should be doing more? Do you even feel that others are robbing you of value and joy in your life because they are not providing what you feel you need? 

A few years ago, a polling agency asked one thousand people what they most desired in their lives. As part of the poll, the participants were asked to indicate the extent to which the Bible was important to them. Ninety percent of those who identified themselves as Bible-believing Christians said they wanted these things: a closer relationship with God, a clearer purpose in life, a higher degree of integrity or a deeper commitment to their Christian faith.

It's interesting that these heartfelt desires are all things people can do something about, without the requirement of outside human help. There's no need for a governmental program or public assistance to achieve these goals. Difficult economic times need not take them away. These noble spiritual goals are achieved as we allow God's Word to rule in our hearts, and as we pray for and receive the strength of the Holy Spirit to build up our faith.

St. Paul wrote the people of Ephesus in Ephesians in 3:16-17, "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."

In our ever more complex world, it is tempting to put the quest for what we desire into the hands of others. So many of us, Americans or other peoples of the world, have come to expect some outside human or governmental entity to fulfill our desires instead of we ourselves seeking them with God's assistance. This is both counter productive, as well as wasteful of the talents and resources God has given us. 

It is true that we may sometimes need help, and that we cannot live in isolation of others. However, it is not outside human resources that will provide our true happiness and contentment. That must come from God being within our hearts by our trusting Him, and from Christ being at home in our lives by faith. 

Far better it would be that we would follow the words of Isaiah 55:6-7, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon."

Now that's getting help we need from a source that will never fail us!