The God Who created a universe complex beyond our imaginations doesn't need our help. We need to remember,with the Psalmist , Our Help comes from the Lord, Who made the heavens and the earth. (Psalm 121)
What does need our help is the world He made for us: the record says He put our ancestors in a place that needed tending. He could have made it self-sustaining. He didn't do that, and we were told to gather plant foods and care for animals. We were also created to need each other! If we didn't need relationships with our Creator and our fellow creatures, we would have missed out on so much. We depend on each other, we hopefully get along with each other; our very existence as a society ultimately is based on there being next generations.
Most people understand that we are created to help each other. We may do it well, we may do it badly; the best instructions are given in two short sentences: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. We all need help. We all need to be helpful. God enriches our lives in remarkable ways as we give and receive help. The help we need the most desperately is the strength of God Himself as we admit our own need and fall on His mercy and grace. Everything we do on our own is flawed, but with His strength it transmits His grace and mercy onto those we help.
The communities of faith depend on each of us to use our gifts and abilities for the benefit of our "neighbors" and ourselves; this includes our family, our church, our community, our world. It is easy to focus on what we think needs to be done; what others need us to do. The difficulty is to step back and ask what God needs us to do. In the end, He doesn't judge us on what we accomplish in this world, because we all fall short of His perfection. We've all seen people who are so sure that they have the answers to every need that they can miss what is really needed-truly caring about each other and less about who gets the credit. Sometimes we need to step back and allow someone else the opportunity to help. Sometimes what someone needs to have done is not we expect. Sometimes the only person who needs to know what happened is our partner, God.
Jesus was scathing in His judgment of those who bask in the credit of the world--and even said that there will be no further credit when it really counts. When we "count our blessings" we are blessed when we help each other in His name,and in His power.
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