One story shared by my mother remains close to heart! What should we ask for help and how should we do that?
short story
There was once a businessman who was riding his car to attend a wedding in a nearby city. To reach the place quickly, he took a deserted muddy road. As luck would have it, his car got stuck in the mud and as it had rained the day before, it seemed difficult to get it out of it.
Now, this businessman was an ardent devotee of God. He thought to himself – “I am stuck! I have to pray to God to have Him help me get out of this situation” and he prays.
Now, God is known to answer people’s prayers at different points of time in life – for someone instant response and for others, it takes a while…! For this businessman, he responded immediately and appeared before him and enquired what does he want from Him?
Now, the businessman takes a look at God and tells Him – “My car is stuck in the mud. Can you help me get it out so that I can reach my destination and attend the wedding as scheduled”.
God glances at him and smiles – “Why can you not do it yourself?”
Businessman replies – “If I step out, my clothes might get spoiled and I would not be able to attend the wedding dressed appropriately. It would be extremely embarrassing.”
God asks him – “What do you think will happen to my clothes if I get to help you get the car out?”
Businessman looks at the clothes God is wearing and realizes he is dressed is all expensive clothes (more expensive than those that the businessman was wearing). He thinks about his situation and then slowly says – “I understand your predicament. However, you are God and you have the responsibility to solve my problem. This is my problem today and You need to figure out an amicable way to help me”
God smiles and tells him – “You know what, let me teach you something today. When I am standing in front of you grant you any wish, what do you ask me? You ask me to get your car out of the mud! Is that it? What you should ask me instead is whether you have the strength and intelligence to get it out yourself without soiling your clothes! If you ask me that, then I can grant you physical strength and mental intelligence to solve your own problems. And remember this, whatever effort you put in with your ideas to solve your own problems, trust me – I will do a matching grant and double your resources!”
The businessman agrees and resolves to solve his own problems and thinks of a solution to get himself out of the sticky situation. With a lot of hardwork and pride, he gets his car out of the mud, and drives it to the wedding reaching there on time.
What can we learn from this?
When we face challenges in life, we feel stuck (like the businessman) and seek help from God. At those times, if we can ask God to help us have the strength and intelligence to solve our own challenges, it helps us in the long run, instead of asking God to help us get us out of the sticky situation, without learning anything from it!