In my pride, I sometimes resist asking for help. But a needed lesson hit me back in the mid-1980s. Sheila and I went to visit her mom in Spearville, Kansas, just east of Dodge City, but with a surprise. Oh, she knew we were coming, but to avoid her worries we somehow forgot to mention we were riding our 1978 Honda Goldwing motorcycle. She saw us pull up out front, and joy and fear both danced across her face.
And before the trip ended, we convinced her to try it, so she crawled onto the passenger seat for a ride to Sheila’s brother, about 15 miles away. And back. But as Sheila and I later headed home, the bike began to wobble some…the back tire had a slow leak. No nail, likely the stem. The next small town had no properly sized inner tube, but we found a foot pump. The towns were about 20 miles apart and we could make 12-15 miles before stopping to pump it back up. A lot of work in the Kansas heat.
That routine continued into the panhandle of Oklahoma. Finally, a small bike shop in Dalhart Texas, about 30 miles away, had the right spare tube and promised to hold it for us. The lady owner ran the front, her husband did the wrenching, but he was gone on a Christian Motorcycle Association (CMA) ride for several more days. So, no trained mechanic to remove the rear wheel from the drive shaft and brakes, and to replace the tube. I’m a rider, not a wrencher. I had brought along the shop manual, but not many tools.
I gulped down a large helping of pride, acknowledged my ignorance, and almost begged if I could use the garage to do the dirty deed, in temps that hovered around 100. She smiled, said she knew less than I, that the insurance company wouldn’t like it, but she would allow it. She did seem to enjoy the show I put on.
Well, we got it done. And through this, I discovered that desperation gives courage to us all. Even the courage to ask for aid. And when we got home, I promptly joined the CMA.
But most important, I learned that we need to have enough courage and humility to ask for help when we need it. Sometimes, our fine traits of independence and self-reliance can morph into problems. Even in our core connection with God, we rely on what we can do, not realizing how deeply God cares about the smallest details of our lives. Jesus’ words often convict me, like these, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father…So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29, 31).
Maybe we need to seek his help more often, more quickly.
Kick Starting the Application
How easily do you ask for help? What most keeps you from it? What role does pride play in it? If you struggle with pride, like I do, does it have a negative impact on the rest of your spiritual life? What most keeps you from letting God be God?
Me on the ‘78 Golwing, same time frame as the story