you can get help right now

image source: freeimages.com/Griszka Niewiadomski

Have you ever felt as though you were waiting for something to come to pass? Some solution, some outcome, some answer to a problem? Oftentimes when I have been in a situation I have not been happy with or that I could not seem to get peace on, I have looked to the future, thinking, when is the answer going to come? This line of thinking often left me feeling as though I was just hanging: waiting around for something: a solution, for help, for God to do something. And yet over this past twelve months, one of the truths I am beginning to slowly wrap my head around is the concept of God as a present help. God as I AM and not I will be.

In the Bible, God's names represent a different aspect of His character. When He revealed himself as I AM, God was not only communicating His eternal nature but His Presence and Sufficiency for any situation, for any point in our timeline. Many of our concerns can be traced to living outside of the now. We might look to the past and see failure, disappointment and patterns we think we can't break. We look to the future and may fear the unknown or worry that the past will continue on a loop there. Or we might be waiting for something to happen that we believe will solve all our problems.

But I AM is above and beyond this; He is everything at once. Everywhere at once. I AM was there in the past and will be in the future, but most importantly, He is here right now. He is fully accessible to us in the present tense. That means now. And one second from now. And one second after that. There is no past or present sin, problem, dilemma or wayward thought that can alienate us from Him. We are not depending on the passing of time or the happening of certain events to be ok in life. We don't need to keep projecting our solutions to the future. Our answer dwells in the Present.

One of the biggest blessings of the God-life is the accessibility of help in every moment and circumstance. God's power to transform us, to strengthen us and offer us hope and give us wisdom so that we can face whatever is going on around us. It's the reason the apostle Paul could find joy even when he was in a prison cell. We can get peace in any singular moment, regardless of what is happening in our lives. Our security and help are not dependent on circumstances, on the unfolding of time. That would be a tragedy. There is too much at stake. Too much outside of our control. We could spend a whole life waiting.

Instead, we are offered help now. Today. This second.

Don't get stuck in the time-trap, projecting your help to some future point. Slow down. Synchronise with the rhythm of God and see how He will show Himself strong for you, right now.

'Now that we know what we have - Jesus, this great High Priest
 with ready access to God - let's not let it slip through our fingers. 
We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. 
He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all - 
all but the sin. 

So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. 

Take the mercy, accept the help.'

Hebrews 4:16 (The Message)