My son has repeated to me numerous times the phrase, “I can do it myself, Daddy.” It is one of the most annoying phrases, even though it comes from the a person that I love so dearly. I can guess that it is certainly not unique to my family, and that there are parents out there who feel the same way I do. My own parents probably fall into that category.
No matter his true independence level on a number of tasks, there are many things he does need help doing, for instance, he needed help turning on the faucet at a sink because the handles were just outside his reach. He kept telling me he didn’t need my help, and insisted that I turn the water off, until finally he stood on top of my feet which gave him the necessary boost to reach the faucet handles. In his mind, he probably thinks he did it himself.
Another incident tonight was as he was trying to fall asleep, and he kept whining, indicating he was uncomfortable. I was worried that he might be sick, I asked him whether there was anything I could do to make him more comfortable. In true form, he told me that he was taking care of it himself, and didn’t need my help. However, after another ten minutes of struggling he let me know that he needed another blanket because he was too cold. Oddly enough, he would have had the issue resolved earlier had he just let me know when I first asked him.
These two examples are similar to how we often think we can do everything ourselves, we think we are completely self-reliant. However, we aren’t! We don’t want to hear, “No, you can’t do it all on your own.” However, we often walk along in our lives struggling to do it on our own, when we really just need to learn to ask for help.
The Almighty God desires us in relationship to lay EVERYTHING at the foot of the throne, for nothing is too much or too heavy.
When are we going to wake up and allow others to help us?
Elpis and Shalom 