I Want To Help

I had help cleaning today.  Two tiny tots with rags leaving more fingerprints than what they cleaned.  But as soon as I started cleaning windows I heard their two little voices from behind me saying “I want to help!  I want to help!”  So I handed out rags and put them to work.

I followed.  Cleaning the mess they left behind them.  They were convinced they were helping.  I knew better.  Those windows looked better before they cleaned them!  But I didn’t tell them.

I was ok with the extra fingerprints.  They really weren’t a big deal.  When we see the same story played out on a spiritual level between God and His children it’s much more serious.  

When God gives us a promise He is faithful to complete it without any interference (help) from us.  It’s tempting to think that God may need our help when we don’t see his promises fulfilled in our timing.  But considering His perfection and our tendency to mess things up, I think I’d rather wait on Him.

Need an example of what happens when we get impatient and try to help God?  Just remember Abraham.

Then God's Message came: "Don't worry, he won't be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir."  Then he took him outside and said, "Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You're going to have a big family, Abram!"

Genesis 15:4-5

Sarai said to Abram, "God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her." Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.

Genesis 16:2

From this pregnancy, you'll get a son: Name him Ishmael; for God heard you, God answered you.  He'll be a bucking bronco of a man, a real fighter, fighting and being fought, Always stirring up trouble, always at odds with his family."

Genesis 16:11-12

Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that 'I'm making you the father of many nations.'

Genesis 17:5

But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.

Genesis 17:19