Helpless and Hopeless

The Spirit Filled Life. C. Stanley

The Spirit-Filled life begins with an overwhelming realization that we are helpless and hopeless apart from the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. 

I love this quote. There is sort of a dawning which tells us (sometimes at multiple times and stages in our lives) that we really are pretty much NOT going to be able to do this alone. Life. Life hurts too much to do it alone. In face, it is impossible to face life alone. 
How many people do you know that are addicted to "something". That is their god, their "salvation" in life...the way that they make life work....even though that 'god' is the most unhelpful god that was ever thought up. 
We have people dying of drug overdoses, some accidental, some on purpose...attempting to soothe their way through life, stop the overwhelming amount of pain they feel. 
We have the people who are compulsive shoppers, or (me) maybe even the possibility of the not shoppers, the best deal hunters, who want to save money for emergencies. 
We have the porn addicts, the constant one-night-stand-ers, attempting again to soothe brokenness
We have the hoarders, the depressed, the anxious, the sick. There are so many tough things in this world that people face....and many of the coping mechanisms people try to use just end up with more brokenness. 

God is the only way to make it out of this broken world. He created it, and we destroyed it...the only way to handle the sinful world is to dwell on His holiness, and sense the creation we once would have had. His perfection makes it possible to move forward in this world, and avoid things that will cause more difficulties, or become useless "gods". 

He is the Good Shepherd, and we are His sheep. Having been in animal husbandry, there is nothing so wonderful as contented animals, looking at you with happy eyes because of the food, care and housing given. How much more must God want to care and see that? We will all be like that when He comes again....but I am certain He wants us as near to that here, on this broken planet, as He can. 
When we look deeply and longingly for Him, for all of Him, He will answer the door and invite us into His house to the point that we feel His Spirit with us constantly. We are not alone, not even one minute or second, not with His love with us.