It is always around this time of year that I end up on the blag for The Noise…  Whilst this might sound like a chore, it is always an EXCELLENT lesson for me in the Lord’s provision.  It is sometimes hard for us to accept verses such as “ask and it shall be given unto you”  because we are all too proud to ask for stuff (particularly help) in this country as it is some kind of sign of weakness.  We are certainly too proud to turn to friends and family for help unless things are absolutely desperate.  Yet we want to help others.  How silly.

One of the biggest problems for me with verses inviting us to ask and we will receive, is that it sort of makes me think that it invites us to sit on our backsides all day and just click our fingers as if God was some kind of butler.  Are we not supposed to serve him?  I was reminded of when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, how humbling that must have been.  I am also reminded of when Mary sat at Jesus’ feet whilst Martha rushed around like a mad thing and Jesus said that Mary had sussed it by sitting at His feet.  I always felt a bit sorry for Martha, until I realised that point of the story was not that Mary was allowed to sit on her ‘derriere’ for the day whilst everyone rallied around her but that we are not to worry about the trivial things of life. Yes, work is important, but it is not the priority of focus.  God should be our focus and work a part of that, not God a part of something squeezed between work, worry and stress.
Jesus said: “And for this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.  Are you not worth much more than they?  And which of  you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life span? And why are you anxious about clothing?  Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all of his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if  God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?  Do not be anxious then, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “With what shall we clothe ourselves?” For all of these things the gentile eagerly seek;   for your heavenly father knows that you need of all of these things.  But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness; and all of these things shall be added unto you.”

This struck a chord with me as I have been working literally round the clock of late, trying to finish off my modules for the year, trying to earn money, trying to do almost ALL the housework and trying to manage our accounts, do the shopping, remember birthdays,  paperwork, cook every meal, etc etc and I feel the need to sit back and look to God for help.  Yes, I am struggling. There is a ludicrously long summer to look forward to but I have to get there first.
As I sat asking for God’s help for the Noise (which somehow seems easier than for your own needs) He started to provide.  Sainsbury’s offered to help with the Whaddon project with food.  I put a note on Freecycle asking for a sofa bed for a lady who sleeps on the floor because she has 5 kids in a 2 or 3 bed house.  I got no reply until someone offered a Futon on Freecycle.  I emailed to ask if it was like a sofa bed and it turned out that the lady offering it was from Trinity and had felt led to buy a sofa bed for this project.  She is now doing that.  Others too have donated and businesses have come up with just the right equipment.  Bizarre.

So ask for the Lord’s help.  “Be strong and brave and ask for the Lord’s help”.