I woke up singing a Toby Mac song this morning, and anytime I wake up with a song, I know within the lyrics are words I’m supposed to share. So sister, here it is …
Help is on the way (roundin’ the corner)
Help is on the way (comin’ for ya)
Help is on the way
I lived enough life to say
Help is on the way
Yes, sister, your prayers have been heard and help is on the way! What you need is coming straight for you! Help is coming and God is rolling up his sleeves.
Get that image in your head. The image of God rolling up his sleeves to reach down into the depths of wherever you find yourself, and rescue you. Rolling up his sleeves to show up in the middle of your mess and get in on the dirty work. Rolling up his sleeves to be right here with you through it all.
I think that’s one of the things I’m growing to love most about our God. He’s not a distant, untouchable God. He’s not an angry, white bearded man sitting on a throne throwing down commands and dishing out punishments. He’s not a God that requires rituals and righteousness to approach his throne. He is a ‘I care so much, I’m coming down there to do something about it’ kinda God. He is a ‘I will show up myself to rescue you’ kinda God. He is a ‘nothing will stop me from loving my girl’ kinda God.
So, no matter how long you’ve been away and how far you’ve strayed, God is ALWAYS ready, willing and able to come to you right where you are, with sleeves rolled up, to help you come back to the life he created you for. Help is on the way as soon as you ask for it! He’s here to work on your behalf. He’s here to move the mountains in your way. He’s here to part the seas that have kept you from what he has for you. He’s here to tear down some walls, shake some crap up, do some mind-blowing miraculous stuff, and put his love for you in action.
Oh yes girl, he’s rolling up his sleeves again! Help is on the way!
In John 5 we read about Jesus healing a crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda. The religious officials used this against Jesus because it was the Sabbath. How dare Jesus work on the Sabbath. How dare he carry out miracles on a day their rules said it wasn’t allowed! Ridiculous people trying to dictate when God can and can’t work. But don’t we do the same? Really, don’t we assume some things will never change? Don’t we put impossible things in the impossible category and give up hope they would ever really become possible? Don’t we make up our own rules about God’s power in our own lives?
Jesus’ reply to his accusers that day, and to us here today, is the same. John 5:17 ” “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”
God is at work here. Jesus is rolling up his sleeves. Girl, you better believe HELP IS ON THE WAY!
It’s rounding the corner. It’s coming for you. God is ALWAYS at work and Jesus is working too. You may not see what he’s doing. You may not understand what he’s doing. You may not feel the effects yet or have proof of a single thing being changed yet … but it’s happening!
Repeat after me: GOD IS AT WORK HERE!
This is a God work zone. He’s on the scene, he’s doing what only he can do because you asked him to.
You did ask him, right?
Hey girl, make sure you ask him! Make sure you put in the work order. How’s the repairman supposed to just show up if you don’t place the call for help? 1-800-GOT-JESUS … yeah Jesus, I’m gonna need you to come on over here and be on the scene for this situation I’ve got going on up in here.
And Jesus says “Help is on the way (roundin’ the corner). Help is on the way (comin’ for ya). Help is on the way! I lived enough life to say, help is on the way!”
He’s rolling up his sleeves for you, my sister. You can believe it. You can count on it. He’s never early and he’s never late. He will be right on time with everything you need. What you can do, he expects you to be doing. What you can’t do … well he’s got that completely covered, all you have to do is make the call for help.
And just like the crippled man who had been laying by the Pool of Bathesda in his condition for 38 years, when Jesus showed up on the scene, everything changed. What had been impossible before was now possible. The help he had never received before was now right in front of him. The movement in his life he had been seeking was now happening.
Jesus asked the man “do you want to get well?”
Why would he ask this? Wasn’t it obvious this man needed healing. He had been an invalid for 38 years. But Jesus asked because the truth is, sometimes our disease becomes our identity. Sometimes our hardship becomes our excuse. Sometimes our struggle becomes our story and for the story to change we would lose everything we know about ourselves. Sometimes we don’t really want to get well, we just want to be more comfortable in our mess. We want a co-signer on our chaos. We want our excuses to be endorsed and pardon to be given.
As soon as the man told Jesus he really wanted to be well, he was healed. He got up and walked. Help was right there for him.
Now Jesus asks you, do you really want help here? Do you want this to get better, or do you just want to be right? Do you want to be strengthened so you can DO something, or do you want it all to be done for you? Do you want to have a bridge to get over this, or do you really just want to stay where you are because it’s familiar?
If you want it, your help is here. It doesn’t mean it will be easy, but it does mean you won’t do it alone. As Jesus rolls up his sleeves to work, he expects you to do the same with him.
Help is on the way … are you ready for it?
