AUGUST 21

Cry for Help

Mark 10:46-47, 51-52

THERE IT WAS. One of those posters. Some are funny. Some are clever. Others, beautiful. A few, thought provoking. This one? Convicting.

“My son, slow down. Cool it. Admit your needs.”

Such good counsel. But tough to carry out. Why? Why in the world is it such a struggle for us to ask for assistance? Ants do it all the time and look at the stuff they achieve. In my entire life, I’ve never seen a football game won without substitutions. Even the finest surgeons will arrange for help in delicate and extensive operations. Highway patrolmen travel in pairs. I was taught all the way through my days in the Marines to dig a hole for two before the battle . . . never one.

Asking for help is smart. It’s also the answer to fatigue . . . and correcting the “I’m indispensable” image. You want to know what’s at the heart of much of our boundless drive? Pride. Plain old stubborn unwillingness to admit need. You see, the greatest battle in leaders today is not inefficiency; it’s super-efficiency. It’s been bred into us by high-achieving parents, through years of competition in school, by that inner voice urging us on, “Prove it to ’em, you can do it. You don’t need anybody’s help.”

Consider this compelling portrait of what it looks like to cry to God for help:

As Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! . . .

“My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”

And Jesus said to him. “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

MARK 10:46-47, 51-52

The world beginning to get you down? Feeling rotten? Too tired to pray . . . in too big a hurry? Feel like there are no more options for you and your family today? Let the Lord hear your cry for help. So much changes when He does.