Do You Accept Help? tagged: , ,

Do You Accept Help?

Posted by in Bible & Theology

This is a picture of my son. He’s just over five weeks old, but he was about three weeks old when this shot was taken. Do you know what’s making him smile? If you’re a parent, you probably just thought to yourself, “gas.” But since this is my first child, and I’m not quite as jaded as the rest of you (yet), I’m just going to answer, “I don’t know what’s making him smile, and that’s okay!”

My son is normally a very serious little boy. He has a way of looking at things that makes you think there is wisdom to be found in staring at ordinary objects, and that maybe if you also stare at them, you will uncover the knowledge that he has discovered. Though he is not yet two months old, I can tell that he is going to be very strong willed. Being a first-born child myself, and having married a first-born, my son comes by his strong will genetically. I can hear his thoughts as I pull a shirt over his head, “Dad, I can put my arms through the holes myself!” I can see his frustration when he’s hungry: he wants so badly to put something in his mouth that his tightly balled up fists are actually making it harder for me to feed him. I actually caught myself reasoning with him—out loud—at three weeks old (and at 3am), “Son, if you would just let me take care of you, you would enjoy it so much more!” Do you see where I’m going with this?

There are many well-known passages in the Bible that describe how God provides for our needs. Matthew 6:25-34 is among my favorites because it addresses those people who worry. I’m a worrier, and if my son’s often furled brow is any indication, he’s a worrier too. This passage in Matthew is not a call to abandon work or effort. It’s a reassurance to those people who, like me, tend to get distracted by chasing the things they worry about. Worrying is a reflection of weak faith, as is relying on our own strength to provide for ourselves. Mathew 6:32 is the response from God: not in the form of a thunderbolt or earthquake, but like a parent resting their hand on the shoulder of their child and looking straight into their eyes with compassion. “Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (NASB). When it comes to what we need, no one is more aware of the need—or more prepared to provide—then our heavenly Father.

There is a leadership lesson in this passage, and it’s not that leaders need to work in teams. Leadership is sometimes a dangerous illusion because of pressure-filled axioms like John Maxwell’s “everything rises and falls on leadership.” Maxwell is not wrong. But too often leaders hear the bumper sticker quotes about vision and communication and guiding people, and then they forget that leadership was not designed to be a one man show. Leaders, especially dedicated servants of people, can get caught chasing leadership skills and resources with the same vigor that the hungry chase food or the poor chase money. But even the noble chase for leadership skills can be the wrong pursuit.

The first lesson I teach my son about leadership will be about priorities. Leaders are judged by what they chase, because followers will chase whatever their leaders chase. If you are a leader who tries to do everything on your own power, what are you teaching the people you influence? If you are going to lead people, shouldn’t it be with an upfront admission that our own power is weak, but that there is a God who knows what we need before we do? Leaders, focus your priorities and accept the help of your Father. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33, NASB).