The Helping Hand of the Father
Greetings, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to
explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly
Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This
morning we seek to understand the helping hand of the Father.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Helping Hand of the Father
"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." John, Chapter 14, Verse 18
Brothers and sisters, when a child is very young he is unable to assist in his own growth and
development. His parents must literally do everything for him. But as the child continues to grow
and develop, he soon begins to assist in his own growth and development. A young child at first
cannot dress himself, but with the passing of time he learns to do so without his parent's help. The
true parent is there continually assisting the child to grow and develop, to reach maturity. The true
and wise parent does not assist his child in injuring himself.
When immature souls petition the Father for help, they are like little children who have set their
hearts and minds on a particular object. They continually worry and beg their parents to give them
or to assist then in obtaining the thing they desire, regardless of the detrimental value of the thing
they request. In illustrating the wise help of a father, Jesus said: "If a son shall ask bread of any of
you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish will you give him a serpent? Or
if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?" If we who are human know how to give good
gifts to our children, surely the Father who is all wise and all powerful will give us the spiritual gifts
that we need in order to grow and develop.
From the spiritual perspective, we are confronted with a situation of immature material children
requesting selfish and self-aggrandizing favors. They have not yet grasped the supreme and spiritual
purpose of life. They have not yet consciously begun that supreme spiritual journey by the technique
of submitting their wills to the Father's will. In their immaturity, they seek the wrong kind of help
from the Father, and thus make it difficult to consciously realize the Father's help when it comes.
Since they are looking for a material answer, they fail to recognize the spiritual answers to their
prayers. They fail to recognize those spiritual qualities of truth, beauty, and goodness of the Father's
love. They fail to recognize the increase in their spiritual growth and development, which will at
some time deliver them from the shackles of materialistic desires and pursuits. It could be so
exciting, so inspiring, and so effective if we would help the Father to help us.
The Father loves his children and wants them to mature. Thus the Father does only that which is wise
and helpful. Let us consider the case of a mortal who desires to be rich and famous. He craves the
recognition and admiration of this fellows, feeling that he would be satisfied if he achieves this
status. He petitions the Father to make a way out of no way. Riches begin to flow and influential
people flock to his side. His name becomes a household word, and he is constantly besieged by those
who crave riches like him. He soon discovers that his satisfaction and happiness due to sudden riches
are short-lived. Though he is recognized and idolized by those of like mind, he still feels the same
old longing and dissatisfaction that he felt initially. He sets out to acquire even more. He is like a cat
chasing his tail, never catching up with it. But the greatest tragedy of this misadventure is the loss
of his spiritual thirst and hunger. Material things and his single devotion to them have killed his
desire for spiritual growth and development. They blinded him to spiritual reality. We see that if the
Father had assisted him in this endeavor, the Father would have assisted in his own self destruction.
But such a scenario can never be the case with the Heavenly Father. He loves his children too wisely.
And we can see what happens in other similar cases, where some have pursued their material goals
and have acquired a measure of recognition, fame, and material glory. We discover that those who
lost their spiritual vision and moral anchorage in the process were miserable, unhappy, and lost. Only
those who recognize their spiritual nature and moral obligations and respond in kind are happy,
satisfied and service-loving. It is not that acquiring material goals is intrinsically evil, but the
worship of them is evil. It is indeed a sad commentary on one who gives up his eternal spiritual
birthright for temporal satisfaction.
It is not that the Father does not have mercy for his material children, neither is it that the Father
lacks the power to deliver them from their difficulties. Rather, it is His wisdom as a true spiritual
parent that sets his relationship with his children. He uses temporal circumstances, including the
afflictions of his children, to perfect them. Now we know that it is better for us to seek to do the
Father's will rather than to seek to have the Father do ours. And the sure sign of maturity is when we
begin to view life as the Father does. When our insight grasps the spiritual purpose of all this
difficult uphill struggling, we move into a position of assisting the Father in helping us break these
materialistic shackles and liberate us into the spiritual world of truth, beauty, and goodness; a world
of divine love, a world where the Father's will is gradually becoming supreme and dominant in us.
We help the Father to help us by seeking the divine values and meanings in all our experiences,
subsequently recognizing and incorporating them into our being. "Seek and you shall find." "Knock
and the door shall be opened." We help the Father to help us when we actively choose the way of
truth, beauty, goodness, the way of love and mercy. We help the Father help us by declaring in every
human crisis, despite the emotional or physical devastation, "not my will but your will be done."
Since we only grow by making moral and spiritual decisions, decisions to submit to the Father's will
become powerful multipliers for growth since they represent supreme spiritual attitudes in the face
of crises. When the power of the human will and the power of the Father are joined, no barrier can
prevent the Father from making the supreme revelation of himself. So why not help the Father to
help us through His Son, Jesus?
This concludes today's message on understanding the helping hand of the Father. We hope you find
something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day.
Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Helping Hand of the Father
