Daily Wisdom 02-24-2005 Does God Need Our Help?

"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him." Psalm 32: 6-8
Does God need our help? Probably not.

My friend Brad says he get's nervous when people start talking about doing something "for" God. He'd lot's rather hear people talk about doing something "with" God. God spoke the universe into existence. I think He can probably get along without my help most of the time.

In the classic movie, Shenandoah, there is a critical scene where Jimmy Stewart's character, Charles Anderson, is talking about what seems to be a futile effort to find his missing son during the Civil War. The widower's youngest son, a civilian, was mistakenly captured by Union troops and shipped off to a POW camp. After weeks on horseback searching for the 16-year-old, Anderson and his remaining children are about to give up and turn for home. In making the painful decision, he cries out to the others, "Somehow I just had to try. And, If we don't try, we don't do. And if we don't do, why are we here on this Earth?"

As they reluctantly head for home, another of his sons is accidentally shot and killed by a young sentry at a bridge. The weary family arrives home carrying the body draped over a horse, only to learn that another son and daughter-in-law left behind to care for the farm have also been killed in their absence. Anderson's infant granddaughter survives.

As the movie ends, Anderson heads to church on Sunday morning to shore up his challenged faith. As the church service begins, the missing son, ragged and on crutches, stumbles through the doors of the church during the second hymn and is reunited with his father. The scene serves as a reminder that, as much as we strive to do things on our own, God is ultimately in control.

If we only attempt things that can be logically reasoned out, then it means that we aren't depending on God for guidance. If we don't trust God in impossible situations, then we miss opportunities for Him to perform miracles in our lives. Does that mean we should sit back and do nothing? Probably not. We still need to do our part with His guidance.

Several years ago I heard a quote that has become one of my favorites. A reporter asked a resident of a Chicago nursing home about his philosophy of life. The elderly gentleman replied, "If you aren't living close to the edge, you're probably taking up too much space."

My goal this year is to live closer to the edge. I hope to"do" more with God by allowing God to "do" more in my life. I'm expecting some miracles. How about you?

If you're interested, there is more information about:
The most important event of all time and
The most important Book of all time.

Contributed by Bob Grove - robertgrove@juno.com, Senior Minister of the Christian Church of Manteno, Illinois ( www.colint.com/~ccmanteno/ ). Bob has previously been published in publications, such as Christian Standard and Lookout. Today's Daily Wisdom post was edited by Keith Todd, moderator of theSermon Fodder list which offers Christian humor and modern day parables forenjoyment and for use as sermon illustration material. To subscribe go to http://www.sermonfodder.com or drop an email note to Sermon_Fodder-subscribe@yahoogroups.com