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REFLECTIONS
The Lord helps me

Lena Bergen Friesen

Hebrews 13:5-6

With much care and determination, our three-year-old granddaughter Tanika was trying to copy her mommy’s writing. After making a comparison, she noted that her squiggly lines didn’t resemble the fine script. She burst into tears. Mommy, God doesn’t help me, she cried. He helped David fight Goliath, but doesn’t help me.

Of late, Tanika had been fascinated with Bible stories, especially the one about David. Her little mind understood that when he prayed, God helped him. Today she was making the application – she had prayed but felt that God had failed her.

I got to thinking that I don’t voice my disappointments with God like a child does. There are times when I doubt or when I’m afraid, but I don’t tell others.

David in the Psalms repeats the phrase again and again: The Lord is my helper. As a youth out in the wilderness tending his father’s sheep, he had learned that God had protected him. When he offered to go into battle against the giant, he declared that he was unafraid because he was going in the name of this same Lord who had helped him before.

The writer of Hebrews assures me that I can have that same confidence: God has said, I will never, never fail you nor forsake you. That is why we can say without any doubt or fear, The Lord is my Helper, and I am not afraid of anything.

Little Tanika’s childlike faith wasn’t shattered by this incident. She still prays for God to help her. Jesus said that we should become like children.

Reflections is a column of brief reflections on Scripture passages. This one is by Lena Bergen Friesen.

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Last modified December 3, 2000.

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