Bible Passage: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2 NIV)
Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
We all need brothers in our lives who can help shoulder the burden of our trials. One of the dangerous lies men believe is that they can handle everything themselves and that reaching out for help is weakness. We’re told that “real men handle things on their own.”
The truth is that sometimes you can…but sometimes you can’t.
The problem is that we aren’t always good discerners of our own thoughts. Fear and anger distort things. Exhaustion messes with our minds, and shame convinces us to hide.
Next thing you know, you’ve spent so much time alone inside your own head ruminating that unhealthy and even problematic thoughts begin sounding perfectly reasonable.
You don’t need to broadcast your problems to the world. In fact, I’d recommend against it. But you do need someone you can trust. You need a brother you can call when you’re struggling. Someone who’ll listen without judging you or without immediately trying to fix you. Someone who can strengthen you when you’re weary and pray with and for you when you don’t know what to pray, but also someone who will lovingly correct you when you’re not thinking straight.
God created us for community. Ecclesiastes teaches us that when one man falls, another can help him up, but “pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up” (Ecclesiastes 4:10).
Isolation makes us vulnerable. A wolf doesn’t normally attack the sheep that’s surrounded by the herd. It targets the one that’s wandered away and is isolated on its own. Don’t make yourself easy prey.
Brotherhood isn’t weakness, it’s an incredible gift. And asking for help isn’t failure or some twisted indication of some sort of defect in you; it’s actually God-honoring humility.
Even Jesus surrounded Himself with disciples, and in Gethsemane (during one of the darkest moments of His earthly life), He brought Peter, James, and John close and told them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow” (Matthew 26:38).
If Jesus could tell His brothers that His soul was hurting, you can too.
Prayer: Lord, give me trustworthy and godly brothers with whom I can walk honestly and vulnerably. Give me the humility to ask for help and the courage to speak when I am struggling. Make me the kind of brother who carries the burdens of others as well. Amen.
Reflection: Who knows what is really happening inside your heart right now? Who could you share with today?
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