Some days there is nothing to do but accept that God will have to do the work in me because I've come to the end of what I know to do. Since a car accident in July, I have had some pain, which over time has increased and become more persistent and unyielding. I tried all the things I know to do, stretching, exercise, swimming, relaxation but to no avail. It's gotten worse. And each day I have chided myself for things I could have done differently, even though there was no way to control the deer or the darkness of the night. It happened and now, I finally have to accept the consequences. And I had to ask for help from folks who know more than me. How hard that is, asking for help, admitting to pain, admitting to the need for others and seeking out their skills and authority. And yet, how much release and peace I found from telling the truth and asking for help.
We live in a country where bravado and individual strength is prized. And asking for helped is shamed. And yet we are formed and fashioned by a loving God who wants more than anything to be at the core of our beings, bringing healing and peace. "It is God at work in you," Paul says (Philippians 2)and he ought to know. He was one of the most intelligent, outspoken, self-reliant, theologically versed church (actually temple) insiders that there were. He was an orthodox believer, did everything right and yet found himself in darkness. He found God in his need, and in his blindness he had to ask for help from strangers and accept it. And God reformed him, rebuilt him through Paul's reliance on others, his relationships with individuals and communities of faith. I know the letters of Paul seem to be written for the good of the communities to which he writes. I have come to realize that those letters, the New Testament letters, were as much Paul working out his faith, reminding himself of God's love and activity in his life, his need and complete reliance on others, as they were for those who received them. God's activity is in relationship and the Creator's touch never reaches one person alone.
May we take consolation from the love we have from others. God's love is embedded and demonstrated most clearly in the relationships around us. Christ calls us to seek him in the face, hands and hearts of those we encounter on our daily walks. We have to seek others out, humble ourselves, ask for help, and know that God is in the midst of the work transforming our hard hearts, broken spirits and our sore backs. May we embrace our need of one another, knowing that God will be revealed in one another.
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