Does God really need your help?
I was teaching a few weeks back in our Training Center (Bible College) in Pissila, when something out the door caught my eye. Directly in my line of sight is a water/hand pump about 75 yards away. During this week, there were probably well over 100 different people that I saw pumping water from the well that we dug. Jug after jug and barrel after barrel came empty and left full. On this particular morning, as usual, I watched the activity going on outside the door while I taught, but I noticed something out of the ordinary. A woman was pumping as her beautiful little daughter held onto the iron rod pumping alongside her mother. I though it would make a wonderful picture but opted not to take it as I was in the middle of teaching. After we studied together for a few hours, we took a break and went outside. Then it happened again; another lady pumped the handle up and down so that water would flow out, and her son joined in next to her. I quickly walked over to where they where and asked if I could take a picture. Below is the picture.
I immediately saw the parallel in how God works in and uses us. In both cases mentioned above the child really did nothing except put their hands on the iron handle. There was no way that the child would have had enough strength to make the iron handle move up and down by themselves. It was Mom that had all the strength, and the little child was able to “help.” Can you imagine what that little child probably told their father when they got home? They would say something like this, “Dad, do you see those barrels? I filled them up with water. I made the handle go up and down, and water came out.”
God does the same thing with us. When we think about the great work that He has given us to do on this earth it certainly is impossible with our own strength. There is absolutely no way that we could accomplish our mission by ourselves, but He lets us put our hands in the work as He does something far beyond our capabilities.
People over the years have told me, “I can’t do what you do,” in reference to the ministry the Lord has called me to. Truth being told, I can’t either. It is God who does it through us. I have at times gotten puffed up with pride and watched as God took his hands off the handle. Then, I realized that without Him I can do nothing. John 15:5
Next time you think you are something, just remember we are like the child pictured above, helpless and weak on our own. The next time you think you can’t do anything, think again of this child. We need to put our hands on the handle. I don’t always understand why, but GOD HAS CHOSEN TO WORK THOUGH MAN. Does God really need your help? Yes and no. He is capable of doing everything by Himself, as He lacks nothing, but He has chosen to let us help/participate. Why not put your hands on the handle and let God do His work through you? If you do that in 2017, you will be like the barrels coming to the well empty but leaving full.
