"Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the Law of Christ."
Galations 6:2



How many countless nights have you sat there alone, a spiritual battle raging around you as you are at war with yourself? We've all had nights like that. Nights where we feel like we are completely and utterly alone as we question whether or not we should try to get some help or advice from someone else. But how can we face others if we can't even face ourselves?

Fear is the biggest proponent in keeping your struggles a secret. What will they think about you when they find out? You fear the rejection that might come from telling somebody your secret, but let's all be honest for a moment. What really has happened is you have rejected yourself. You can't even face your reflection in the mirror, let alone tell other people about it!

I am a fiercely independent person.
Sometimes it’s a good thing, but other times it can quickly get me in to trouble because I have a hard time listening to people and taking their advice, mostly when it comes to helping myself.
I like to be the strong one.
 I like to be the person that helps people, not the person who needs help.
One thing that seems to be a theme that I’ve needed to work on the last couple years is accepting love and help from other people. People have enough of their own problems to deal with that are worse than mine to try to help me, I would tell myself. So I would smile and when they asked how I was doing I would tell them about my writing projects and how busy we always are with our many fellowship activities and my music career. I loved perfection. I made it my goal to look and act a certain way when I was around other people. The last thing I wanted was for people to worry about me. It made me feel guilty, and I didn’t like it. 

Now, I look back and realize that this is a repeated theme throughout my life. It is also an extremely unhealthy behavior pattern, one that I’m still working on breaking. No matter what we tell ourselves, we all need other people and other people need us. 

As I sat there on one of those nights that we all have, the familiar scripture drifted through my mind once again. 

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 

I ignored it.
"I can make it on my own," I told myself. "I can do it on my own strength."
I found out very quickly that I couldn't.
Yet somehow, I kept trying.
The same thing over and over again, day after day, and guess what?
It never worked.
Not once did I ever have the satisfaction of saving myself. Not once did I ever feel the triumph one feels after climbing a huge and foreboding cliff-face as they look down and see how far they've come.
It was insanity... Doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results time after time. But going to get help from other people wasn't an option. I convinced myself that it would destroy them if they knew and that they would reject me when they found out, and I didn't want that.

I have a much easier time trying to help others. 

  I hope that my friends and family know that I will stand with them through anything and be there for them. But when this verse was reciprocated on me, I tried to ignore it. I don’t want someone else to be burdened with my problems. I wanted to do it on my own strength with out anyone else’s help.





The problem is that no matter what we tell ourselves and how "strong" we act, we can't do it all on our own. No man is an island. We all need each other, and more importantly, we need to rely on God's strength that He gives us through His Son to get us through whatever is happening right then in our lives, not on our own strength. I got to a point in my life where I couldn't do it anymore... Not by myself. I had to let God take control of my life instead of me trying to be in control and I had to let
the other people around me help me too.

It wasn't until I relinquished the control that I thought I had over my life and let God take over fully that I had triumph. Until then I was stuck, doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same, unsatisfying results. And I had to have accountability, because without it I would fail. Aside from my parents and a few other people, nobody really knew that I was even struggling until one night when the enemy launched an attack barely two days after I had some victory in overcoming some struggles I was having. I went to a friend, asking her to pray for me and told her an overview of what had gone on. Turns out I went to the right friend! Since then, I feel like our friendship has grown stronger and deeper than ever before. Not only has it strengthened our friendship, but it showed me that the lie of "they won't love you if they know" is a rotten scheme of the enemy to keep you from gaining victory and to keep you stuck in the mud.
We need other people, and they need you, but most of all, we need to let God be in control and not try to do it on our own, because we can't. It's impossible. Our strength, as much hope as we put in it, is weak and small compared to the great power and might of our God, and it runs out very, very fast. We can't do it on our own for very long before we are too exhausted to even bother caring about it anymore. We must surrender ourselves to our Father, and when we do that, He sends His angels to surround and comfort you, and He sends people to help you through all that you are going through.







Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.