I need…

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8 (ESV)

If you come here very often, it won’t take long to see that I learn a lot of valuable lessons from children—particularly my nieces and nephews. Today they range in age from 4—13. (I say, today, because sometimes I blink and a whole year has passed making me feel like I should never blink again.)

Recently, the four-year-old was not feeling well. She has started back to preschool after a summer hiatus, and I suspect the germ factory lurking in most preschools has been busy attacking unsuspecting and innocent little children with every virus and creepy crud it can muster. Since she was sick, she was home from school for a couple of days. After getting her settled and snuggled into a comfy spot, the conversation below took place between her and her daddy (my brother).

Her: “Daddy, I’m going to just rest.”

Daddy: “Okay, sweet girl.”

Her: “If I need you, can I come get you?”

Daddy: “Yes, baby. Please do.”

Her: “Ok, because I’m probably going to need you.”

Haven’t we all found ourselves in situations where we just know from the start, we are going to need someone to help us get through whatever we are facing? From the very outset, the task, the problem, the illness, the grief, the pain feels like more than we are going to be able to manage on our own. Yet, often in our efforts to be self-sufficient and appear strong and “all put together” (whatever that means), we put on our best “overcomer” face and try to plow through the mountain on our own—only to realize it’s too much for us, too much to conquer alone, too much to get our head around, just too much.

What if we learned to acknowledge our weaknesses to ourselves and others and put our needs into actual words for others to hear? My personal experience has taught me that we may not necessarily know or be able to understand our needs at the beginning of a hurdle or even in a difficult moment or day. (My niece surely didn’t know what she might need in the moment.) Maybe we can’t articulate exactly what would be helpful or provide a step-by-step guide for “How to help me survive this crisis.” But what if somewhere on the front end of the hurdle we could gather our people or maybe just our person, and say something like, “If I need you can I come get you, because I’m probably going to need you.”

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It doesn’t make you a failure. If anything, it demonstrates your courage. It’s a way of putting your people on alert that you will likely need them sometime soon. It’s also a way of letting your people know if they see you struggling to keep it all together, they may just need to show up and be present. Remember – you already said, “I’m probably going to need you.” You laid the groundwork and made them aware of what was likely to come. The same is true on the flip side when we are the ones that need to show up for others. Pay attention. Don’t wait to be asked. Just show up. Because they are probably going to need you!

I can’t help but think of how faithful our God is to be to present whenever and wherever we have a need. God is always near—always closer than our breath. Could we state our need and invite God and our people into whatever lies before us – a mountain to be climbed, a raging river to be crossed, an uncertain path to be forged. I’m reminded of a song (that happens a lot with me) sung by Matt Maher:

LORD, I NEED YOU

Lord, I come, I confess
Bowing here, I find my rest
Without You, I fall apart
You're the one that guides my heart

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour, I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You.

May honest words such as these be our prayer today.

Amen

Songwriters: Matt Maher / Daniel Carson / Jesse Reeves / Kristian Paul Stanfill / Christy L. Nockels

Lord, I Need You lyrics © Sweater Weather Music, Worshiptogether.com Songs, Sixsteps Music, Thankyou Music Ltd., Valley Of Songs Music