August 15, 2025 Devo

I read a story a few years ago about a man who ran his sailboat aground near San Diego. He had sailed into a cove where the water was fairly shallow, and suddenly he was stuck. People on shore watched him as the waves kept pushing him further and further in, the bottom of his boat scraping across the rocks. Nearby lifeguards came out to get him off the boat, but he refused their help. He told them he would simply wait for the high tide to come and set him free. The lifeguards knew that the man was in an unsafe situation, so after pleading with him for a while, they finally forced him out of the boat and got him to shore. Once there, the San Diego police took him into custody for being under the influence. Alcohol can do that to us. It can make us think we’re better, smarter, or safer than we really are. Pride can, too.
“I need your help.” How hard is it for YOU to say that? Some of us are dealing with addictions. We keep telling ourselves we’ve got it under control. All the while, we’re slowly running our lives aground and losing the respect of the people we love the most. Your road to freedom begins the day you can bring yourself to say those four simple words. “I need your help.”
Others of us are letting our marriage slip away from us. We’ve not been happy for a while, and we’re pretty sure our spouse isn’t either. Oh, we go through the motions and put on a pretty good front for others to see, but it’s just a façade. We don’t talk. We don’t listen. We pretty much don’t even care. How did we get to this point? More importantly, how do we find our way back? The restoration of most relationships starts with the words that are hard for us to say. “I need your help.”
Some of us are battling depression. We smile at people at work and church, but the smile is plastic and forced. We feel as if we’re sliding down into a deep, dark cave, and we don’t know how to stop. We’re afraid people will think we’re crazy. Or we’re afraid that people will think we’re weak or that we lack faith. So we keep waiting for some magic tide to lift our spirits again. Some of us don’t want to be a bother. Some of us don’t think we’re worth the effort. But you are. You are surrounded by people who deeply care, but they just don’t know what you’re going through. You have a God who loves you immensely and wants to help you find joy and wholeness again. But the way out of the cave begins by admitting we’re stuck. We need to cry out to God and reach out to a friend with those powerful words that can produce a lifeline of hope: “I need your help.”
Whatever your need today, wherever you’re stuck today, you don’t have to stay on that boat stranded all by yourself. God loves you, and we love you. Don’t make us force you off that boat. Say those magic words that release the power of God and the compassion of good friends. “I need your help.” That’s God’s Word for you today.