The lights flicker and go out. A voice asks if they should call an electrician. The person on the couch responds with indifference as the lights flicker again. It’s getting worse, but, again, the two people decide they can either figure it out themselves or that maybe the problem will resolve itself. This scene I’m describing isn’t really about electricity. It’s a commercial encouraging those who are struggling with difficulties to seek help.
There are several other commercials with a similar message. There is the cowboy bitten by a diamondback and taught by the generations before him to keep going no matter what. There is the guy in the gym who can’t lift the weights off his chest but doesn’t want help for fear of his family finding out. And the sky diver, who doesn’t want to take away from the other person’s experience even though his parachute isn’t opening.
It makes me ask these questions.
What lies do we believe that keep us from receiving the assistance being offered?
What excuses are we willing to make to deny ourselves the help we need?
Why are we so stubborn and resistant to seeking or accepting help?
There is a story in the Bible depicted in the series The Chosen (S1 E7). In the scene, Moses and Joshua argue over Moses’ choice to create the bronze serpent to save the Israelites from the venomous snake bites that are killing all the people. Joshua is resistant to using this tool that Moses is creating because it is a pagan symbol, but Moses, having followed God for a long time, knows that the best course of action is to listen and obey God. He knows God is providing what the people need even if it doesn’t make sense.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and put it on a flagpole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.” So, Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Numbers 21:8-9
We are just like the Israelites. We complain and argue with God. We often resist the many ways God provides the very healing we’ve been asking for.
I suffered a traumatic experience when I was 19 years old. It did a lot of damage to my heart, mind, and soul. Over the past 35 years, God has provided many forms of help for me. Some I accepted and some I have resisted. The help has included trusted friends, my husband, seminary, a spiritual mentor, retreats like the Emmaus Walk, counseling, spiritual direction, reading insightful books, and enneagram coaching. Each one was not the key alone. Each made a difference because the Holy Spirit used these avenues as a way to heal and transform me.
Just like the bronze serpent raised up on a pole was not the source that healed the Israelites. It was the power of God that healed them when the people trusted and had faith in the means that God provided.
Are you carrying all your burdens by yourself? It’s time to trust that God is providing just what you need. It might even be enneagram coaching from me. Give me a call. Maybe, just maybe, I can help.