No man an island...

"If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!"

-Ecclesiastes 4:10, NIV.

More than anything, we men love to believe that we can be an island unto ourselves, independent and self-reliant, but maybe that isn't so good a thing as it sounds:

"Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment" (Prov18:1).

We buy into the illusion, or perhaps the delusion, of our own independence, as if it is within our power to plan for every calamity and disaster. When we are relying on ourselves to succeed, then so often we fail to avail ourselves of the help God intended and purposed for us. Pride makes accepting help so difficult, but then pride precedes the fall does it not?

"Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor" (Prov 18:12, NIV).

We are living in a day when the pride of men is constantly being dashed by economic hardship, unemployment, depression, and failure. It is an awful feeling to fail at something, especially when you are trying so hard to be an island, refusing help from anyone or from anywhere that is offered.

It is foolish pride, though, to refuse the help the Lord sends our way. "Pity the man who falls and has no man to help him," the Bible tells us. Why do men have no one to help them when they fall? It seems pride is at least one major reason.

The best way to apply this truth is to consider yourself blessed when others

genuinely offer assistance. Sometimes assistance comes in the most obvious form: money. Other times, a man falls not from financial hardship but due to his own ignorance or foolishness, in which case his assistance may come in the form of wise advice/counsel or even a supportive ear. Sometimes reproof is the assistance we most need, but when it comes, do we cherish it or rebuke it?

You will most quickly find yourself standing again, following calamity, when you accept the help the Lord provides rather than looking for solutions from within yourself. Watch for genuine offers of assistance, and try to make the most of them. You can't do it alone, and, as a believer, you don't have to anymore. The Lord gave us each other, and the Lord gave us the Holy Spirit. Don't send them away then they arrive with your life line.