Helper

Helper

If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, “Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you.”

IT WAS A SATURDAY EVENING, and we were seventy miles from home when the tire on the 1950 Chevy blew. Thank you, Lord, that I insisted on following Aaron and the kids home. Please, help us figure this out. I prayed as I watched my husband chug-a-lug his dad’s car into the nearest parking lot, the already flat tire shredding to bits in the process.

My prayers turned a bit more desperate as we eyeballed the spare tire nestled in the trunk, rotted through and unusable. As we wrestled the spare off my car, only to find its lug nut alignment was incompatible, we knew we were officially out of options and in trouble.

It was as Aaron and I stood, trunks open, tools scattered, spare tires lying upon the pavement, that three people pulled up in a truck, admiring the Chevy while asking if we needed some help.

One of the men worked at a nearby salvage yard, and they spent hours getting us fixed and back on the road. Our adventure involved two trips to the salvage yard for a free-to-us tire with the right lug nut arrangement before wrestling everything into place.

As we pulled onto the highway, once again headed for home, I could not help the tears that rolled down my cheeks. Complete strangers spent their Saturday night helping us. They set aside their plans and to-do lists to meet us in our moment of need with cheerfulness and funny jokes. They did not make us feel ashamed or belittled, even when it was clear that changing tires and repairing cars was something we knew little about.

I want to be a helper like that—someone who does not delay, who comes alongside cheerfully and without condescension, someone who sees the humanity in the person being helped, who treats others with dignity and gentleness in their moment of need. That’s the kind of helper God is looking to deploy into the world.

Lord, may we be compassionate in our helping, lending a hand without arrogance or superiority, coming alongside in ways that preserve dignity and humanity. Amen.

-Julie

One Good Step: Think back to times you received help or watched as others received help. What behaviors preserved dignity and humanity? What behaviors were arrogant or belittling? Take notes on how you can be a compassionate helper.