Practical Help

My husband is an engineer.
Engineers have a different way of thinking.
Married to someone like me is an interesting journey.
We couldn’t be more different in the way we approach life.

That makes things fascinating.
He with his logic and facts and precision.
He admits that he is the “big picture guy.”
Details are not something that he is interested in at all.

I, on the other hand, care greatly for the details.
I see things creatively.
I describe the minutest detail in words.
I am all about the “little picture.”

If my children had a math homework question, they always went to their dad.
Understanding the concept was a breeze to him.
Sometimes explaining the concept in a way they understood was difficult for him.
It was difficult to bring the information down to their level of understanding.

If my children had a question that was not math or science, they came to me.
I thought in word pictures and could always think of an alternative example to clarify.
One is not better than the other, just different.
Our children reaped the benefit of two parents who were wired very differently.

Our children had their “go-to” person depending on the nature of their question.
Their dad was the science and math resource.
He was also their financial adviser as well.
I was everything else.

I was a “catch-all” of information.
It was all about the details for me.
It was all about the big picture for him.
It was a blessing for them as they saw the world through our different lenses.

My husband is all about practical help.
The big picture says an earthquake in Haiti means he goes there to lend a hand.
People need affordable housing so he volunteers to build homes each year.
If someone has a need, he is there to meet it in a practical way.

I am all about the relationship.
I am all about talking over a cup of tea.
I am all about sharing hearts and putting things on the table.
There they can be seen and discerned and discussed and resolved.

Each type of wiring is beneficial.
God uses each style in His Church.
All we need to do is look at Jesus’ life and see practical help.
But practical help never ended there.

Jesus fed and healed the people.
After meeting their physical needs, He met their greatest need.
They needed to be taught about the Kingdom of God.
They needed to understand their dire situation and the only way they could be rescued.

Practical help was followed by spiritual nourishment.
Tending to the body and tending to the soul.
Each goes hand in hand.
One is for the “here” and the other is for the “here and the now and not yet.”

Jesus cared about both.
So should we.
One without the other is unbalanced.
Either you have hard-nosed doctrine with no love, or you have love with no doctrine.

When the Word of God is preached a balance needs to exist as well.
Lofty doctrines without practical help are of little use.
Practical help without knowing the “why” and the “Who” is empty.
It is the Lord Jesus we are serving; it is the Lord Jesus we need to make known.

We need to get down to basics.
Jesus brought the Kingdom near.
We have to learn to do the same.
We have to make Jesus known in the everyday.

Now angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
(Acts 8:26-35)

Philip began with that very passage of Scripture.
Philip did not start with some lofty concept that the eunuch would never understand.
Philip met the eunuch right where he was and began there.
That is the beauty of the Kingdom; it is so vast, so encompassing, it is everywhere.

We need to be relational like Jesus so that we know where people are.
We need to be practical like Jesus and meet their immediate needs.
The worse thing we can do is come with an agenda or a program.
We are dealing with people whom God wondrously knitted together, differently.

There is only ONE way and that way is a Person.
There are many ways to come to the One way who is Jesus.
There is no correct path in coming to Jesus.
Our faith journeys are as unique as our fingerprints.

However, despite the path we take to get to Jesus there is only ONE way forward.
We have to be watching for opportunities to share Jesus with others.
We never compromise the message of the Gospel but we have to be creative in the telling.
Jesus told spiritual truth using stories and parables all the time.

Practical help followed with spiritual nourishment.
Hands on and hands up.
Working and worshiping.
Down to basics so that the basic message of the Gospel can be known.

Meet someone right where they are.
Begin right there.
Tell them the Good News about Jesus.
Spend time studying God’s Word so that you know how to explain a passage to someone.

We have a practical job to do.
Our help is for now.
Our help is for not yet.
Begin right where you are but make sure you begin.

2 responses to “Practical Help”

1. My favorite post ever!!!!

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   • Coming from you, Melt, this means so much!
     If anyone would understand the difference, you would!
     Gina

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