Reset: A 7-Day Plan for Building Positive HabitsSample

It Is Not Good To Be Alone

God created Adam, then gave him a command and some work to do. He was to work the Garden of Eden and care for it. The command was to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It’s important to remember what comes next. God said:

“It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18).

God then brings the birds and wild animals to Adam and gives him another job, to name the animals. And Adam did it. How remarkable to be the first person to meet each animal and decide what its name would be. Still, the helper God had in mind was not to be found among the animals.

“But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man” (20-22).

Two people in the Garden. That was God’s original intention—that people would help one another to care for God’s creation. And yet, it remains difficult to ask for help when we need it.

Is It Hard for You To Ask for Help?

Fear of rejection, fear of being exposed, fear of disappointment, fear of trusting others, fear of being judged, fear of vulnerability, fear of being a burden. It’s amazing how much fear we have underneath the surface, motivating us to do what we do (or even what we choose not to do, in this case). Not only that, but because asking for help elicits such internal fears, it activates the same regions of our brain as physical pain. We can literally say that it “pains” some people to ask for help.

Because of all these underlying fears we’re fighting deep down inside, asking for help becomes an act of faith. We must recognize the fears so we can silence them and move forward in faith. God tells us to ask:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

God reminds us that those who ask, receive. Just as much faith goes into asking as into believing we will receive. And maybe, just maybe, choosing not to ask is choosing to live in fear.

The fear of asking limits us not only from accomplishment and success, but from growth, from deeper intimacy with others, from trust, from vulnerability, and even from healing.

We need to learn to recognize our needs and desires and our shortcomings and ask for help with them. Help from God and from others.