“When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

I recall a movie I recently saw titled, “A Long Walk Home.” It is about a family whose son had wandered away from home into the woods. It was a very rural area but word spread very quickly about the missing boy and in a short time hundreds of people had volunteered to help in the search for the two year old.

I can identify with having something one moment and then it seems to just disappear. Imagine how maddening it would be to have lost a child. The expectation would be that a child that small could not have gone very far and he would be quickly found or would come back to what was familiar to him, or would cry out for help.

We can all identify with the willingness to help someone in such a need. We would have the desire to give of our time and resources, but are we as willing to call on others for the help we need? We tend to be very reluctant to call on others for help and usually only do so when we have exhausted all our own resources and abilities. I know in my life helping others comes with little thought, but to ask others or to call on God when I’m in need is not as easy. My pride gets in the way. But God sometimes waits on us to call out in the crowd so he can respond, “What do you want me to do for you?” It takes self denial, it takes humility, and it takes faith in Him. That is what He is after; our willingness to call out to Him.

Prayer: Lord, please help us to put away our pride and call on You for the help we so obviously need each day.


Ryan Parks