As I glanced for oncoming traffic before I turned the corner, my eyes absorbed the whole tragic scene and immediately pooled with tears. A chunk of my heart ripped into my throat.
I saw the flashing EMS lights, and two EMT’s wheeling an old woman on a gurney. Another EMT helped an elderly, hunched-over man, white hair and beard disheveled, with a cane. His shoulders heaved up and down as his face reddened with tears.
But, I was turning the other way to head for a meeting. Besides, what could I do? I’d never been in this neighborhood. I’d never seen this couple in my life, but the connection was immediate. I recall the morning when they wheeled my late husband away on the gurney. Six hours later at the hospital we pulled the plug…
I scanned my Facebook home page and saw an acquaintance’s report about her teenage son’s latest set back with cancer. Just home from the hospital after months of chemo and infection fighting, they were back in the ER, in a city hours away from me. I recalled the times my own son was in the hospital fighting for his life…
I saw on the news a young family left homeless by an apartment fire. Their dog didn’t make it out. The small child squeezed her mother’s hand as she wailed for her lost friend, and watched her home devoured by the flames. I was reminded of the night my room caught on fire…
Then, situations I cannot fathom flash into my life via the internet, TV and radio.
Another plane halfway around the world has crashed. More lives lost…
An insane and upset person opens fire on an innocent gathering of people…
Sixty children are left in a truck in the middle of the summer, most likely smuggled in by traffickers. Most are dying, if not already dead…
What could I do?
Do you ever feel that way? Someone wiser than I once said we are not human beings but human doings. When we hear of a tragedy, we immediately ask, “What can I do?”
God whispered the answer into my faith ear once again and it dashed to my soul. PRAY – it is the best you can do. Prayer opens the floodgates of Heaven, and multiplies our capabilities a thousandfold. Prayer connects the Almighty with the weak and hurting. Jesus prayed for others until His dying breath. He prays for us still.
Why do we so often underestimate its power?
Why do we feel we need to do more? Maybe because praying doesn’t seem like doing. Our hands are still and folded, not busy. Results are often not immediate, though they can be.
If, when you are made aware of a tragedy, you can physically render aid, do so. But as you dash to “do” that, lift the whole thing into God’s capable hands. Pray He gives you the tools you need to help and the right words to say. But, if you don’t feel capable or are too removed from the scene, then call on the One who loves more deeply and knows more vastly what is going on.
Pray… it’s what all of us believers could, and should “do.”
Where Did You Find God Today? 
Great blog, Julie. But one I wonder if our pride doesn’t enter into the picture? If we’re doing, doesn’t that make us better than just praying? The daughter of my dearest, departed friend calls regularly. This morning she said, “When nothing else worked I finally prayed.” I quickly responded, “Let’s reverse that order and make prayer the first thing we do.”
But that requires admitting to others and ourselves we are helpless…and that’s called humility. And humility is where help begins. Help from our Father in Heaven as we cry out to the only One who can truly help.
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Absolutely.
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Julie, this is the most profound and meaningful piece ever. It goes right to the heart of the DOK and to all of us who feel so helpless. I have been on both sides, and when my husband almost died in June, a voice on the phone asked me ‘Would you mind if I pray for you both”? Wow, I didn’t even know this person, but it made me aware of “PRAYER” and this article is spot on.
Thanks Julie,
Nicki Luce,
St Matthias’ Church
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Thank you! Your response means a lot to me. My prayers for you and your husband. You know I lost mine three years ago.
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There will always be situations we find ourselves in where we feel helpless. The feeling of helplessness or ‘what can I do’ should be an immediate call to prayer. Things are often out of our control, but never out of the Lord’s control. May we all turn our feelings of helplessness into words of prayer. Thanks for the reminder today.
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I do often feel helpless. The latest is the MH17 shot down, and Gaza. As you said, prayer is often the only thing in our hands, and I believe it is the strongest thing we can do for anyone in distress. Physical help, absolutely, but also spiritual energies.
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Well said. Thanks for your comment. I think we all feel impotent when it comes to world events and the horrors of war, hatred, torture, trafficking… But we have an omnipotent God!
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