And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
- Galatians 6:9
Like you, I was stuck in my home this past weekend, held captive by a winter storm that paralyzed the metroplex. My family had everything we needed—heat, running water, plenty of food—but there was nevertheless something destabilizing about knowing I couldn’t get anywhere beyond walking distance. Looking at my sloped driveway covered in a thick sheet of ice, I knew that, even in an emergency, I wouldn’t be able to get my car where it needed to go. In such a scenario, I would be entirely helpless.
Like you, I checked the weather forecast 20 times a day on Monday and Tuesday, waiting to see when things would get back to normal. When would businesses reopen? When would the school district make a decision about welcoming students back? When would the roads be clear? All I could do was refresh my weather app, refresh my email, refresh the various Facebook pages offering me rumors and tidbits of information. Beyond that, there was nothing else to do; I was helpless.
Like you, I spent a lot of time the past week watching events unfold in Minneapolis, especially after the shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents. I watched videos taken from multiple angles, I listened to accounts by federal officials, I tried (and failed) to ignore the professional pundits turning a tragedy into a partisan game. A city was squaring off against agents they saw as a hostile occupying force, agents who had now killed two of their fellow citizens. From nearly 1000 miles away, I felt helpless.
Few things get you reaching for despair quite like helplessness, that feeling that you can’t do anything to make things better. When you see a problem, you want to solve it. But when a problem is too big or too complex or too far away for you to tackle, it makes it hard to have any hope.
The Bible offers an antidote for helplessness—help. Do your part, however big or small, to make things better and brighter and more beautiful. Instead of bowing to cynicism or anguish, find a place to shine the light of Christ.
Call somebody you know is lonely. Bake a loaf of bread for a neighbor. Donate to a cause you care about. Pray for those who are struggling. Help, even when your help feels insignificant—because to the one who is helped, it makes all the difference in the world.
Our world is full of voices promising that things are never going to get better, voices telling you to give up, voices of hopelessness. But the voice of truth reminds you that though this world has its share of troubles, Jesus has overcome the world. So in his name, be a helper—especially when the days feel helpless.
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