There was a story my dad used to tell me about a boss he had named Rick. Rick was an atheist. My dad and one of his coworkers were new in the faith and asked if they could have Sundays off so they could go to church. Rick said no. They tried to tell him about God; He rejected them. It wasn’t until his son went missing that God began to slowly soften his heart. There seemed to be no trace of his son and he started to believe all hope was lost. My dad and his coworker asked him if they could pray for his son. He said no, but told them if they were going to do it, they had to do it outside of his office. They didn’t know where his son was, but they knew a Guy who did. At the same time that God was returning a son back home to his father, He was doing the same for His own. Rick came back days later saying his son had come home and was amazed by the miraculous works of the God they believed in. The God he now believed in too.

They got Sundays off.

Think back on the most recent time that a classmate, coworker, friend, family member, neighbor, or whoever, came to you with a dilemma. A gesture otherwise known as “venting”. It happens to me all the time. Someone always needs a roofer, or a mechanic, or better friends, or more money. Something. Someone always needs something. And in my mind I think, “I know a guy.” I send them the person’s info then they call me a hero and we hug and I feel great.

Then there are times when the problem is just too big. I don’t have a recommendation, advice, or a referral to give them. All I have is a back rub and a corny fortune cookie slogan. I leave the conversation wishing I could have helped. If only I knew a guy.

I had a coworker who recently went through a messy divorce with an abusive husband. Every week she had a new horror story. Everyone at work would listen to her, cry with her, and hug her, but offered her no help. Maybe they didn’t know anyone. I wanted to invite her to church but I would always talk myself out of it. I didn’t know a divorce lawyer, I didn’t know what she should do with her house, or how she should help her kids, but I knew Jesus. I had to stop seeing myself as the young, useless, ignorant coworker and realize that I was carrying something that could change her life. The same realization my dad and his coworker had. I knew a Guy. It took the entire 12-hour shift for me to push through the negative thoughts and the nerves before I finally gave her an invite card.

It’s amazing how quick we are to refer them to someone we know, and how quiet we are when we can’t think of anyone in our rolodex of references. Your response can no longer be “I wish I could help.” You know a Guy who can help. What if our first response to people’s problems was to direct them towards Him, the fixer of all problems. That friend who has depression, that family member who is battling an addiction, that coworker who is going through a divorce, point them to Jesus.

I find myself singing “I need a hero”, that footloose song that I barely know, in the middle of my own crises. Then I hear God say, “You know a hero.” Because even I forget that I’m not my own hero and I don’t have a portable Mickey Mouse calling for Toodles whenever I’m in need of something. But I know a Guy who once said “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

Jesus wants to fix your problems, my problems, your parents’ problems, your health problems, your financial problems, your family problems, your work problems, your personal problems, your spiritual problems, any and all problems. He has come to give life and life more abundantly. Just ask Him.

You’re not a Marvel character. You’re a human being. You can’t be everyone’s hero, but you know a Guy who can.

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

-1 John 5:14

Jesus is my hero, and He would like to be yours too. If you are ready to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and begin a personal relationship with Him, click here.