When you need help
A piece of furniture needed to bemoved from our house, which Jerry and I easily transferred outside to an SUV usinga makeshift dolly. What we had not taken into consideration was it might not beso easy to lift it into the vehicle. As we stood staring at the piece, him withone hand in a splint from an orthopedic issue and me with back issues, we went overour options.
The people that would normallyhelp us in a situation like this were a distance away. This was also at a timeof day that many of the neighbors were gone. Dark clouds gathered overheadthreatening rain. We kept staring at the furniture as if it would sprout legsand climb into the van on its own. I silently prayed the Lord would help us, andthen my attention was drawn to a couple of lawn care workers a few houses away.Could we ask them to help us? No, that would be crazy, I told myself.But the more I thought about it the less crazy it seemed.
“Jerry, do you think we could paythose guys to help us?” I asked pointing to the workers.
He didn’t hesitate. He set off toask. I watched to see what happened. When he reached them, there was a verbalexchange, and then the group began walking in our direction. I glanced again atthe leaden skies and thought, just in time.
When the two workers arrived, theyhad the furniture in the vehicle in less than a minute. Jerry pulled bills fromhis pocket to pay them.
They both put up their hand andrefused.
I persisted.
They still refused. In broken English, one of themsaid, “Everybody needs help sometimes. God bless you.”
Wait. God bless you was our line.I was about to say it. My eyes filled with moisture.
“Yes, they do,” one of us said. Idon’t even remember who, now. “Thank you and God bless you, too.”
As they walked away, I heard theLord whisper in my spirit, “I have my people everywhere.”
And that is because God iseverywhere. I had a special sense of His presence and love for some time afterwardbecause of this experience.
We can find ourselves insituations that in the natural seem impossible to resolve, but God issurrounding us with his care, even when it comes to something as mundane asmoving a piece of furniture. God can move mountains at his command, but he canalso move home decor. We can forget that in the minutiae of life. The Lordspoke these words to Joshua before he entered the promised land, “Do not be frightened,and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go”(Joshua 1:9). Even if it’s just out to the driveway.
We don’t need help sometimes. We need help all thetime. And being on the receiving end of an unexpected act of kindness remindsus of that.
The next time you find yourselfin a jam. Look around, God is there already at work.
And may God bless you, too.
Beverly Varnado's most recent book is In Search of the Painted Bunting, a middle grade historical from Elk Lake Publishing, #1 in new releases in its category. She is also the author of several small town romances from Anaiah Press including her latest, A Season for Everything. All are available at Amazon. To explore the web version of One Ringing Bell, please visit bev-oneringingbell.blogspot.comTo sign up for her newsletter, go to http://eepurl.com/dHNdsX Beverly Varnado copyright 2023
