“We’re going to have to change our approach to winter chores,” I said to Keith this past week. Although I can still weed and trim, water and harvest both garden and herbs, and blow leaves out of the ditches along the driveway and gravel road, mowing the meadow has become too much for me. Slipping on dry leaves and grasses is a given, and I don’t compensate as easily as I used to while wielding the weed-whacker on that steep slope. Keith’s imbalance due to childhood polio has made chores like this even more cumbersome with age.

Keith pondered his chores for a moment then said, “I can split the wood in the garage and fill the bins for both woodstoves but will ask our neighbor to have his crew split the logs in the turn-around and pile the pieces up close to the house.” He’s changing his approach, too, and that’s good. We do what we can and ask others for help with things we can’t. 

Biblically, a change of approach usually refers to drawing near to God’s throne of grace, to the Holy Spirit making the approach to God possible, and coming into God’s presence with holiness. This “our help is in the name of the LORD” approach required a complete 180 for a former atheist like me. And my about-face didn’t happen all at once.

Before reading further, you might refer to one of my previous blog posts: With Christmas approaching, what is in store for us?

Approach God with humility

Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them. Exodus 19:22 NIV

In the Old Testament, coming into God’s presence on Mount Sinai was dangerous. Only the priests could approach Him. Even so, a spiritual leader’s failure to perform sacrifices and rituals with purity and holiness had dire consequences: God “breaking out,” meaning His sudden, lethal judgment. 

I am ever-so-grateful that God was patient with me, because my first approach to Him, which happened nearly thirty-five years ago, was fraught with anger, self-pity, anxiety, insomnia, and the inability to eat. So stubborn was I that it got to the point where I had to humble myself to God—that is, die to myself and live—or just plain die. I chose life.

Approach God with the Spirit

For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Ephesians 2:18 NIV

The Holy Spirit, with Jesus Christ as the mediator, makes the spiritual approach to God possible. By making this point in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul emphasizes unity among Jewish and Gentile believers. Here, he highlights the Trinity: access to the Father through Christ, enabled by the Spirit.

As soon as I chose humility to God all those years ago, I “heard” the Spirit guiding me and still do whenever I “listen.” I believed in God and followed the Spirit, but something was missing. Someone I would discover in my third season of life.

Approach God with confidence

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16 NIV

The author of Hebrews encourages believers to approach God with confidence. Through Jesus, believers come to God openly and without fear, and receive help in their times of need. Unlike in the Old Testament’s priestly tradition, believers have direct access to God. Christ the compassionate High Priest speaks mercy—not receiving the punishment we deserve—and grace, receiving what we do not deserve: God’s favor and help. 

To receive help, I had to admit my weaknesses and failures, which I’d kept secret, mostly from myself. I struggled to bring my sins to light, as described in my faith memoir Wisdom Builds Her House. It takes practice to confess, to ask forgiveness and, most especially, to forgive others. To embrace the truth of “my help is in the name of the LORD” approach.

To bow at the altar of the LORD with Keith, receive communion, and say, “Amen, Thy will be done” with both humility and confidence.

Linkup with Five Minute Friday

On Fridays I send Friday Happy Hours: a recipe from our kitchen and a story about marriage in the third season of life. It is free, it arrives at the end of the week, and it gives a lighter touch to the experiences in this season. Come sit down with us – here.

Wisdom Builds Her House

In 2010 I left a 34-year career in education to build a mountain home with my husband. The literal house went up. Building the metaphorical one took longer. Four mysteries got in the way: my husband’s daughter, who I never met; who I was once I was neither teaching nor raising children; what really happened in 1957 when a man came to rob our house and hurt my mother; and how those things were connected. A memoir from Brandylane Publishers, in paperback, e-book, and audiobook. Find it here.