What Makes This So Hard To Do?

​Lk 5:4-7 - When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."  5 Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, …" 6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them.   NASU 

• Asking For Help 

In last week's Pump Up I shared the story about Coach Dan Gable leaving the 9 wrestlers and going and finding the one wrestler, Barry Davis. Here is a little more of the story. Barry was 11 pounds over his wrestling weight (118 lbs.) and he had four days to lose 11 pounds so he could wrestle at the Big 10 Championships.
 
Barry told me he made two mistakes. One was allowing himself to get 11 lbs. over weight and two was not asking for help in cutting his weight. The night before he went missing he had worked out by himself and was able to lose 3.5 of the 11 lbs. He lost hope that he could lose 7.5 more lbs. so he gave into his negative thoughts.
 
Barry will tell you now if he had just asked for help from one of his other teammates or coaches he would not have found himself in this terrible predicament.
 
What about you today? Are you finding yourself in a situation where you need help? Then follow the example of the disciples and ask for help. 

• Jesus and Peter Asked For Help 

Jesus had asked Peter to use his boat so that He could teach those who had come out to here His teachings. Jesus needed the help from Peter and his boat. Once Jesus was through teaching He wanted to reward Peter for the use of his boat. So He told them to "let down your nets for a catch."
 
When Peter finally obeys the catch is so large he must ask for help from his partners. One of the best lessons we can learn in life is how to ask for help. What makes asking for help so hard to accomplish? It just might be "pride" and we all know letting pride stand in our way can be detrimental in life.
 
Here are two passages about "pride" from the book of Proverbs:
 
Prov. 11:2 - When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom.
 
Prov. 29:23 - A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor. 

• The Choice Is Yours 

Prov. 1:5 - A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,…
 
Prov. 27:9 - Oil and perfume make the heart glad, so a man's counsel is sweet to his friend.
 
Yes, the choice is ours to make. We can listen to wise counsel which is like asking for help or we can go it alone.
 
Had Jesus not asked for the help from Peter by borrowing his boat a lot of people would not have been able to hear Jesus' lesson that day.
 
Had Peter not asked for help they would have lost a lot of fish that day.
 
If Barry would have asked for help he would not have put himself in that dangerous situation.
 
The choice is yours. Choose wisely my friend.
 
Think About This:
 
It's better to keep a friend from falling than to help him up after he falls.
 
It is easier to point a finger than to offer a helping hand.
 
Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word