Have you ever felt like you couldn’t do something on your own? Like you needed help with accomplishing something? My kids are now at the age where they don’t really need Dad. This is hard for me. I can remember a time when they completely depended on me and their mom. But now I’ll offer to help, and I get a quick glare followed with an, “I can do it.” As grown up as they may feel, there are still a few things that they need help with.

Just a little while ago, my youngest boy was trying to get a ball out of our tree, so he climbed up this tree and knocked the ball out. The ball was pretty high up the tree, so he had to use some questionable branches. After he got the ball down, I walked over and asked, “Do you need some help?” to which he replied, “I’m not a baby!” As he began to look around for a firmer branch, I watched his confident, “I don’t need Dad, I’m a big boy” face turn kind of nervous. So I walked over, reached out my arms and asked, “Would you like some help?” This time his response wasn’t as confident, but he said he could do it on his own.

About 20 seconds after telling me that he didn’t need help, he looked at me and yelled, “Daddy, HELP!” I rushed over, and just as I got there, I caught him as he fell out of the tree. I put him down and started to talk to him about climbing too high, and as I was talking, he began to climb right back into the tree.

We are a lot like this. We want to do everything on our own. No matter how scary it can be, we have this huge desire in us to do it all by ourselves. Society tells us that we need to make the most of ourselves, and while doing all of this work, make sure you tell the world about it. But God never created us to do this alone. He never intended for us to climb the proverbial tree on our own. He has wanted to help us all along. This is the core of who God is. He came to this earth so that we wouldn’t have to do any of this on our own.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
— Ephesians 2:8–9

When it comes to your salvation, the world tells you that it depends on what you can do on your own. In essence, the idea is that you can be good enough to get to heaven. But God has a different plan for our lives. Notice in the verses above that it’s not our own doing, but it’s a gift from God! That gift was his son, in our place. Jesus put himself on the cross so that I can yell, “Daddy, HELP!”

It brought me great joy when my son asked for my help, because I love my son, and I want to help him. I can’t imagine what kind of joy it brings to God when he hears us call out to him. This week, I encourage you to focus on the gift you have been given when you yelled out, “Daddy, HELP!”