Surely this has happened to you lately, due to the Corona frenzy: My wife asked me to pick up some saltine crackers at the store a couple weeks ago. I was shocked to see the cracker aisle decimated. (Were they keeping toilet paper there?) On closer examination, though, I found one box left in the back of the bottom shelf.
Victory is mine! I felt like doing a Snoopy dance on Schroeder’s piano right there in the aisle. Then, a week later it happened again, but with sunflower seeds. The last one is all mine! Yes!
But I wonder if folks in communist countries, with shelfs barely stalked all of the time, feel the same. While I’m feeling like I just won the Super Bowl, are they ecstatic just to have some food of any kind? Most of us can’t imagine going to sleep at night with the worry of finding food for our families. That’s true with any kind of need. “Can I get some help here?”
Jesus’ answer to that question is always “Yes.” He said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NKJV). Notice His invitation to assist is to “all.” It wasn’t on a first-come, first-served situation.
I was on a medical mission trip to Jamaica a few years ago. We had doctors and nurses to help with the locals’ eyes, teeth and general health. At the end of each day, do you think we still had people needing help? For sure – bunches.
There are no such limitations with Jesus. He was pondering over Jerusalem’s citizens in Luke 13:34 and said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!”
His “wings” were wide enough to protect and aid both Jerusalem, and all of the world (John 3:16). This isn’t a come-sit-on-Santa’s-lap-from-three-till-five situation. He’s ready to help always!
Did you see the real limitation at the end of 13:34? “You were not willing!” Jesus can help anytime and anywhere, but how many millions limit His help because they’re just like the Jerusalem folk. You can be overwhelmed with anxiety at this very moment, when right there in front of you is the Savior Who can give “rest for your souls” (Mt. 11:29).
Open your Bibles and read how you can come to Him. Open your hearts and ask for His assistance. Contact me and I’ll help you get connected with Him. But rest assured, you won’t be the last one.
Jeff Greene, minister for the South Stokes Church of Christ. (This article was first published in the Stokes News, the local newspaper.)