No Man Is An Island

Far too many people are far too closed up in themselves. Does the person exist who doesn’t need any help? Of course not, but a lot of folks have somehow been conditioned to just keep it all to themselves and try to tough it out. I’ve got news for you friend, that does not work well at all. It’s been said that no man is an island, and that is a true saying. We just weren’t designed to keep everything in and refuse to talk to anyone about what is troubling us. It’s true that we can open up to the Lord, and that we should “cast all [our] care upon him,” but we make it more difficult to get answers and help from him if we are determined to not let anyone else know about our need (I Pet. 5:7). The scripture also tells us to “bear one another’s burdens,” but that’s not easy to do when nobody will tell anyone about their burdens (Gal. 6:2). It’s understandable that someone wouldn’t feel like committing something to someone whom they can’t trust, but I don’t understand why they would be the same way with someone whom they know they can trust. I see it all the time, up close and personal; and I see the ill effect of it as well. I try to implore the people I know to be more open about things that are bothering them, but it seems to be hard to get that through to many.

I wish more people that I know would follow my example in these things. I don’t hesitate to let someone know what’s going on with me when I feel the need for help. In fact I would say that one of my faults through the years has been opening up too much and too freely, but I’m one of these people that kind of wears their heart on their sleeve, as it is said. The scripture tells us to “confess our faults one to another,” so how much more should we be able to tell our troubles to one another? (Jas. 5:16) The fact of the matter is, if we bottle things up and try to deal with them on our own, they will come out eventually anyway, but probably not in a good way. I will admit however, and have learned from long experience that we do need to be discreet about who we tell what to. Committing something personal to the wrong person can have some really bad results. Neither should we ever substitute telling people our concerns rather than God. Everything should always be committed to the Lord thoroughly in prayer and faith before doing anything else with it (Psm. 55:22). Often times we won’t need to open anything up to anyone else, but certainly we should not be closed off from doing so. That just isn’t a good trait to have. Something to think about. God bless.