Suddenly I feel you…

Last night I spent some time with my worship CD playing, just singing to God in my room before I went to sleep.  One of my favorite songs goes like this:

Suddenly I feel You holding me

Suddenly I feel You holding me

Suddenly I feel You holding me

Suddenly I feel You holding me

Sweep me away

Sweep me away

Sweep me away

Sweep me away

Suddenly I feel Your hand in mine

Suddenly I feel Your hand in mine

Suddenly I feel Your hand in mine

Suddenly I feel Your hand in mine

Sweep me away

Sweep me away

Sweep me away

Sweep me away

Suddenly I feel You leading me

Suddenly I feel You leading me

Suddenly I feel You leading me

Suddenly I feel You leading me

Sweep me away

Sweep me away

Sweep me away

Sweep me away

Jesus held me and led me as I released my fears and concerns to Him throughout the day yesterday.  As I talked to Him about my dilemma, He provided clarity on what I needed to do to get the house taken care of (I was so proud to tell Brent that I’d gotten it all worked out!).  He provided neighbors and friends to help with logistics (getting our mail, starting our cars, turning on the heat in the winter, etc).  He provided parents to take Ella.  He provided my Mama to talk me through some options that I needed discernment on.  He provided peace in my heart.  He provided.

I’ve been humbled yet again at the picture of the body of Christ that God is showing me.  It’s against everything in our natural selves to ask for help and allow others to serve us.  It feels strange, and I hate being an imposition on anyone.  But Jesus knew that I needed to learn this truth about His church.  Ever the patient and gentle Rabbi, He taught me today.      

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).

“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:4-5).

Over the past weeks, I’ve had to ask for help many times.  Many more than I wanted to.  I’ve asked people to pray, to spend time with me, to talk when I was lonely, to provide wisdom and discernment, to take over the duties I held in Sunday school, to watch my house, to take my cat, to drive me to the airport, to help me into my house when I locked myself out, to sit with my husband at the hospital, and the list goes on…

Even when I didn’t ask, people offered to have me over for dinner, to clean up my yard after the hurricane, to cut the grass, to let me borrow books and articles to prepare us for the trip…

Community is such a beautiful thing, and as the body of Christ, we are made to depend on one another.  It’s not good to go through this life alone.  There’s a humility and vulnerability associated with asking another for help that draws us closer together.  A few months ago some friends of ours had a sick child in the hospital.  We were overjoyed to sit with them, bring them meals, pray with them.  We didn’t think anything of it.  But for some reason, it’s difficult for me to ask for help. 

With our house-sitter falling through, God’s reminded me that I’m not in control and that His body is alive and well.  These are two more stones that I’ll happily add to my pile. 

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!