Finding Help

1 And [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:1-8

It can be hard to know where to find help when you are new in a country. You start with the basics — food, shelter, clothing. Then things get more complicated — education, work, and requirements from the government. Who can help you fill out that insurance paperwork? Who can check your child’s American history homework? And what about that big bill from the hospital — is there anyone who can help you deal with that?

And that’s just the beginning. You might have special needs, like the woman in Jesus’ parable. She needs justice, but where will she find it? The only man who can help her isn’t interested. The door is shut in her face, and where will she go now?

Whenever we are in need of any kind, Jesus calls us to turn to our first and best friend — to God himself. We don’t have the things that we need, but God does. We don’t know which people can help us, but the Holy Spirit does. He can lead us to those people. He can open doors that seem to be welded shut — as he does in Jesus’ parable. And he can be very creative — after all, the strategy used by the woman was ridiculous, yet it worked!

We know that we can trust God to care for us because he has been meeting our needs since long before we were born. As King David says,

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:12

Two thousand years ago, God met the greatest need that we will ever have — our need for forgiveness, life, and a loving relationship with him. How did he do that? By sending Jesus Christ, our Savior.

It was Jesus who came into this world to rescue us, lost and in danger as we were. He had compassion on us and he gave his own life to rescue us from the power of evil. And then he rose from the dead, never to die again. He will help us in all our need, because as Hebrews 7:25 says, Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Jesus is our help and our strength. Let’s share his love with those around us — especially those who are new in this country.
Dr. Kari Vo