Daddy, Can I Help?

As little kids we looked up to our dads. They were/still are super heroes. They could do anything, fix anything, be anything, play anything, create anything, etc. We wanted to hang out with dad and spend all the time we could with him. But the best fathers know that their kids eat it up when they feel needed. Nothing else is important in that moment.

When daddy needs you the entire world stops.

As fathers we know that (yes I am speaking a little ahead of my own life but I have seen it happen) the two-year-old really doesn’t lend any real help, but it builds them up and makes them feel a part and loved. When you are carrying the groceries in and the little one is there to “help” you give them the bag of chips knowing that it isn’t heavy and they taste just as good in smaller pieces as it will be dropped multiple times on the way from the car to the kitchen.

The dropping tripping over smashing help of the little one isn’t about the help, though. The help is more for the benefit of the child than it is for the parent. Dad is completely capable of carrying the groceries or turning off the lights or painting the wall. He doesn’t need the help of his kid and it may actually be causing him more work, but the whole thing is not for him. The child learns and grows and feels loved and accepted through the situation. They start to learn lessons and skills that they would otherwise miss out on by just going inside and playing with their toys.

There is a connection here with ministry work. As Driscoll put it, “Ministry is putting on a little hard hat and going to work with Dad.” Dad doesn’t need your help. He is an all-powerful God! But when we make ourselves available to be put to work our heavenly Daddy gives us a job to do. Yes He is fully capable of doing it without our help, but the benefit to us is huge. The lessons we can learn from being a part of what Daddy is doing. It helps us grow. It helps us mature. It makes us a part of what He is doing.

So go out there and put on your little hard hat and go to work with your Daddy. He is doing something far beyond your capacity, but He wants to involve you in it!