About five years ago I was sitting at our breakfast table engrossed in a book. It was approximately 5:30 p.m. as I kept thinking I needed to put my book down and start making dinner. Our breakfast table is next to a bank of windows that frame the view to our backyard, a pond, and a road that ends in a cul-de-sac. We had the windows open that day because the temperature was perfect after several days of rain.

As if everything was scripted, I looked up from my book and out the window to notice a serious cyclist approaching the cul-de-sac, perhaps a little too fast given the rain we’d had. As the cyclist turned his handlebars, he didn’t account for the bank of mud that had accumulated because of the rain. I heard and watched the crash in what seemed like slow motion. I didn’t take my eyes off the scene as I tried to see if the cyclist was hurt. He started to move, carefully assessing what had just happened to him. I ran out my back door and yelled across the pond, “Are you okay?” He was to his feet at this point and gave me a thumbs up, which only placated me for about 10 seconds.

I decided to get in my car and drive around to check on the situation. As I approached the cyclist, he dusted himself off and said he was fine and just needed a minute to get back on his bike. I helped him pick up his bike as the front tire was no longer round, but he insisted he would be able to ride.

Looking at the state of his bike and his physical body I could see he wouldn’t be riding anywhere. I told him I would load his bike in my car and drive him to the ER. He resisted, but in the kindest way. He didn’t seem to want to be a bother to me. He was scraped up, slumped over, and scratched to the point of bleeding. Just when I thought he was agreeing to let me drive him home for his wife to check his injuries, he noticed blood on his arm and said, “I can’t get in your car, I’m bleeding and I don’t want to mess up your car.” It seemed clear to me he needed assistance, but I couldn’t believe how hard I had to work to give this man help he desperately needed.

I told him I could easily clean my car, and my black interior would be just fine. I loaded up his tattered bike and drove him to his house. A few hours later I received a text from my new friend, Kirk, thanking me for insisting on taking him home. He and his wife had just returned from the ER with confirmation of broken ribs, a broken collarbone, bandaged up scrapes, and a sling on his arm. I might have forgotten a few things as his list of injuries was long.

We All Need Jesus

I have thought about Kirk a lot through the years as I see myself in his stubborn resistance to receiving help. The exchange I had with him was such a vivid picture of how we can be blind to our own neediness. We limp through life, banged up, bruised, a shell of ourselves, and still insist we don’t need help from the One who created us to be with Him. We champion self-sufficiency and cheer a “bootstrap” mentality all while shrugging and shunning the Lord who promises refuge in His everlasting arms (Psalm 62:8). We are living in a fallen world where we are promised trouble, but we are also invited into a minute-by-minute relationship with Jesus, who has overcome this fallen world (John 16:33). And yet, so often we try to go it alone insisting we are “fine”.

Even when Kirk realized he needed help, he didn’t want to inconvenience me. Sometimes we recognize we need help, but we don’t want to “bother God” with our problems. Whereas humans have finite resources (time, energy, money, etc), the Lord never runs out of anything. We don’t deplete anything He has when we ask Him for it. “God has more pressing things to worry about” is not a thing. He is not confined to space and time – He can be all places and focus on all things without missing any detail. We can’t relate to that; it’s just a truth we must accept, and hopefully bask in the glory of receiving such attention and love from Him. We need Him and He is a good Father who delights in giving us Himself.

I vividly remember coming back to Jesus my junior year of college. I was all in. I began looking back on how I tried to live my life without Him and what mess I’d made of my life. One day as I was reflecting on my need for Him, I prayed, “Lord, if I ever start to believe I can live without You, DRAG ME BACK. Override my will and drag me back to You.” I was startled by those words because they didn’t sound like anything I would say. I truly believe that as I meditated on my need for the Lord and what my life looked like without Him, the Holy Spirit gave me those words to pray.    

Every single day the Lord gives me is a day I need Him. He is for eternity and for every second of every day (John 3:16; John 5:24; 1 John 5:13; John 10:10). We weren’t ever designed to go alone or champion self-sufficiency. We were made for Him and He wants to be with us (John 17:24).

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

A great worship song about our need for Jesus (Lord, I Need You).

Dear Lord, I confess my utter neediness. I need You every second of every day. There is nothing I can do or even want to do on my own. We are a “bootstrap” culture, but we cannot even take a breath without You. Thank You, Lord, for every moment You have ordained for us on this earth and the glorious day we will see You face-to-face. We love You, Lord. Maranatha! Amen.