I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. (Ps. 119:147)

“If you don’t understand,” my high school soccer coach would say, “you can always ask.” Soccer is a sport of many natural movements—we learn to run early in life—but it also requires many techniques we don’t learn anywhere else. At first, it feels strange to stop a ball with your chest or trap a ball with your foot, rather than simply reaching with your hands. My coach understood this strangeness and encouraged us to ask him for help when something didn’t come naturally. Why would it? He was teaching us techniques that were inherently unnatural.

In the same way, God requires his followers to try things that feel unnatural—especially in a fallen world. Talking to a friend about an invisible God or offering correction when they do something wrong can feel as strange as taking a step out of a boat onto water.

But God tells us we can ask for his help. In fact, he expects it. Relying on God in the face of challenges beyond us is a theme that shows up again and again throughout Scripture. Paul said that Christ’s power is made perfect in our weakness. In Psalm 119, just like in 2 Timothy, God reminds us that the “perfect” Christian life requires only two things: an imperfect, but willing, person and a perfect God.

When you wake up each morning this week, ask God for his help.

Lindsey Priest is an Indiana Wesleyan University graduate and lives in Arkansas with her husband and two sons. She likes to read to the kids, play video games with her husband, and refurbish furniture.

© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.