Help Yourself

Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker extraordinaire, tells a story about a man who was hiking alone in the mountains. As he moved along the rugged terrain, he was surprised to find himself in a snow storm, completely lost. He was smart enough to realize that he needed to find shelter right away or he would, in all likelihood, freeze to death in the elements.

Despite his best efforts, his hands and feet soon began to feel the effects of the cold and numbness set in. Reflexes dulled by his condition, he literally stumbled over another man who was nearly frozen in the snow. A decision had to be made quickly: Should he stop to lend assistance to his fellow-traveller or should he stumble on and hope to simply save himself?

He set aside his misgivings and threw off his wet gloves, exposing his freezing hands to even more cold, and began to massage the arms and legs of the fallen man. After several minutes of vigorous effort, the fellow began to respond and soon was able to find his footing. Together, these two strangers, leaning on each other for support, found help.

The first hiker was later told that the help he provided to the stranded traveller on the lonely mountainside had meant salvation, not just for the other man, but for himself as well. His own numbness was relieved by the act of massaging the others arms and legs. The very actions that were taken to save another had increased his circulation and brought critical warmth to his own endangered limbs.

How many people are lost because all they can see is their own problems? Their focus is so narrow, their vision so short-sighted, that they become useless to their fellowman. I wish I could say that this has never happened to me. But it has...

So for today, I pray that I may be able to redirect my own attention to those who are in need of the message I have been entrusted with. No, my life isn't perfect, and neither am I. But I am forgiven and they can be as well!

If we are going to become all that God intended us to be, we must help others become all He intended them to be as well. Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee."

Don't allow the irony of the man who, when he lost sight of his own impossible situation, focused on someone else and solved his own problem be lost on us. It is critical that we forget about ourselves and help others if we want to survive these "present distresses".