Doing It Myself

I would like to talk to you today about

‘Doing it myself.’ The desire for a child’s

independence amazes me. Try to help a

small child button or zip his jacket and he

will pull away impatiently and say, “I

want to do it.” Then, he struggles with the

tiny buttons and with the small socks and

then the shoes. How frustrating as a

parent this can be. Did you ever come to

his aid before he knew what you were

doing? Of course, this brought tears of

anger and upsetting disappointment.

I wonder how many times God watches us

tie the shoestrings of our life into hard

knots. Often our reactions say “God, I

would rather do it myself.” Do you

suppose that our Lord stifles the impulse

to help until we become ready to be

helped? I wonder how often God stands

on the sidelines like that, watching the

fumbling efforts until we are willing to

admit we need him?

When we have exhausted our resources,

our heart cries out. “God help me.” Only

then can his love untie the knots we have

made in life. Impossible situations that

clothe our lives can then be undone.

Priorities that we had backwards and

twisted can be righted and life becomes

filled with smiles as dries the tears of

frustration.  Would you rather do it

yourself?

Father, teach me to accept your help with

the struggles and hard knots in my life

today.

 Amen.