Ask for Help

When I went back to Cincinnati, Ohio this last Christmas, I walked around my former college campus that is now closed thinking, “Why didn’t they ask for help?” I reminisced of all the good times that Cincinnati Christian University (Cincinnati Bible College) held for me. The incredible friendships that were built there have lasted a lifetime and the knowledge that we gained turned into wisdom in our adult years of life and ministry. Now the school is closed and all I could wonder is why didn’t they ask for help. It’s easy for me to look on the outside and ask that, but when I really begin to reflect, I have to ask myself the same thing, “Why didn’t I ask for help?”

Last weekend was Valentine’s Day weekend. I don’t hate the holiday, but I have not had good experiences with it either. I would like to sit back and blame all the wrongs that the guys did to me. I have done that for too long and it doesn’t fix anything. I looked back after walking the campus of Cincinnati Christian University and realized that in my life, when I needed to ask for help, I didn’t. My arrogance and ignorance caused me to fail in relationships and I sat in depression blaming the guys and blaming others who helped cause the failure and never looked inside and wondered what I could do. Now that I’m older, I realize that I need to ask for help.

Asking for help is difficult. It’s difficult because we have to admit that we are not as great as we think we are. Humility is a key component in life that we all need to attain and realize that it is a necessity of life. Throughout time, people have claimed that asking for help is a weakness, but it’s actually a strength. When we ask for help, we gain wisdom that we don’t naturally have. No one is knowledgeable about everything, so we have to ask those with more knowledge, wisdom, and life experience in order to be able to succeed.

Asking for help gives us direction. Once I discovered to ask for help, I realized that I have a direction and a purpose to continue to move forward. So many people are stuck in their past failures that they cannot even look in the direction that is in front of them much less begin to move forward. I know because I was stuck in the early 2000’s, but once I was forced to go in a new direction in life, I could only look forward and I was forced to ask for help every step of the way, which is why I was able not just survive or thrive.

Asking for help involves other people. My pastor, Erwin McManus, says that we need people to grow as humans and he is absolutely correct. We must work with others in order to accomplish our goals. No one is an island to themselves. When we are an island, we fail. If we ask for help, people know that we are struggling and then they reach out and begin to care.

Asking for help is scriptural. People in the Bible had to ask for help when they were in trouble. Most of the time, God intervened with sending them a person to do their work. In order for society to become better and humanity to begin behaving like humans, we need to rely on each other for help in areas that we are not experts at doing. We may do our one part really well, but imagined what could happen if we involved others with our endeavors. The first way to involve others is to ask for help. Cincinnati Christian University forgot that they were not an island. They had a strong base of humans that supported them. I forgot when I was younger that in order to have a relationship, I needed to engage in relationships that were healthy beyond the one person I was dating. It all begins with asking for help. May we all ask for help this week.