How many times do you find yourself slogging through life, thinking you’re on your own, and you have to figure everything out from scratch? I know I do it from time to time, and I used to do it a lot. Pride can be a factor in this, as well as inferiority. Funny how these two are found together so many times. The thing is, two opposite extremes tend to be very comfortable in the same environment—they feed off each other and react to one another. But that’s not the point of this post—maybe I’ll do one on that later.

In this post, I want to provide a little perspective and encouragement to the person who thinks he or she has to reinvent the wheel every time they run into a problem, or even in problem prevention. The enemy would love to divide us against one another, and see everyone groaning by themselves under their own load, but according to Galatians 6:2, we are to bear one another’s burdens.

How can we share one another’s burdens? If we see someone struggling, we can lend a hand in whatever they need, but if we are the ones needy or scratching our heads, can we humble ourselves and ask someone who knows?

In business, relationships, jobs, and life in general, there are people who have been where we’ve been, even if we think our situation is unique. There is nothing new under the sun. Most of these people have either learned what they know by asking those who went before them, or they learned it the hard way. Either way, most people with wisdom are willing to share what they know. If they learned it the hard way, and they have a heart, they will want to share what they know to keep someone less experienced from making the same mistakes. If they learned it from another, they will hopefully know they were given to freely and should also give freely.

No one knows it all. We are not God, and we do not need to carry the burden of playing God. We do not need to know it all, and no one will respect us more for acting like we do. The opposite is true. The more we act like we know it all, and the more evident it becomes that we don’t, the more miserable we become in keeping up our façade, and the less others will feel comfortable around us.

Surrounding ourselves with the right people

So let’s shed the masks, the misery and the childishness, and offer and receive wisdom from one another.  It is freeing, if we practice this with the right people. If we practice it with the wrong people, it can cause conflict and deception. So discernment is also a necessary. We need to learn to surround ourselves with wise and generous people, and to be a wise and generous person. People like this are not always the hippest or trendiest on the block, but don’t let that be a factor. That’s all surface stuff that has no real value. Look for people who will give and receive real wisdom, and see how much richer life can become!

Proverbs 16:16—How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. ESV