As I rode behind a tow truck that was pulling another tow truck the other day, the first thing I thought to myself was, “that awkward moment when you are a tow truck that needs a tow truck yourself.” You are on your way to help, and now you, the helper, are in need of being helped. Not really the rescue vibes you were going for!
We traveled many miles on the same road together. After a while I started to realize that, rather than being awkward, it was actually a beautiful picture of the body of Christ. Some members of the body are like a tow truck—the ones we call first when we need help, prayer, and support, the first people we run to when things are broken down. But sometimes the “tow trucks,” the encouragers and the helpers, need help too.
All of us need to both give and receive help. Yet those who are the greatest help to others can struggle to receive the help that they themselves need. In Galatians 6:2, we read, Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. God did not design anyone, even the “tow trucks” in the body of Christ, to bear their burdens alone. We fulfil the law of Christ, not only by bearing the loads of others, but also by allowing others to help us bear ours. No one has been called to be a perpetual tow truck.
Sometimes the best helpers are unwilling to ask for or receive help. At times the greatest encouragers feel the most discouraged. They may even feel as though, if they ask for help from others, it will somehow take away from the help they have given out in the past. Yet God designed all of us to need “towing” every once in a while. It’s okay to need help doing the things that you do well. Bearing one another’s burdens is a two way street. We all have the same law of Christ to fulfill.
Being a part of the body of Christ gives us all a membership in a spiritual “AAA” so to speak. Don’t be afraid to tap into those benefits. No matter how many times you have been a “tow truck” for others, there is no shame in allowing others to help bring you down the road.
