Some may see it as a bit unethical, but wow—how the school break room rang with laughter when one of my fellow teachers, Mr. S, told the hermit crab story!

Years before, Mr. S. taught a class of middle school students and they had a class pet—a hermit crab.

A very reclusive hermit crab.

They seldom saw it crawl, as it usually hid within its shell. But the students still loved it dearly, and took great joy in caring for the small crustacean.

Alas, one evening after school Mr. S. discovered the little crab was dead. Rather than put his students through the anguish of losing their beloved class mascot, he derived a simple plan.

Every afternoon after class, he moved the crab from one side of its enclosure to the other. Since the students rarely saw it move in the first place, they believed it to be sleeping during the day and crawling about at night.

For an entire school year, he dutifully moved the empty shell of the dead hermit crab back and forth, and his students never discovered the truth.

It’s a funny story, but it illustrates a sad but poignant truth:

It’s not very difficult to fool people into believing you are vibrant and alive, when inside you are slowly dying.

I did it for years.

I put on a brave face, plastered on a smile, laughed at all the jokes, and pretended everything was okay, when in reality things were far, far from being okay

In my case, I desperately needed help to face things that were happening in my marriage, but I was terrified to reach out for help. So day after day I went through all the motions—moving that shell around, fooling everyone into thinking I was okay.

There’s a danger I see in our churches today—we think we must be strong all the time and never ask for help. After all, we are supposed to live in the power and victory of Christ, right? We are meant to be the strong ones, standing at the front of the battle line, leading the charge to advance the Kingdom of God.

And so we silently repeat our mantra. Don’t show weakness. Don’t admit you need help. Don’t back down.

Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?

Well, actually—no.

Scripture says differently. We are told to “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” {Galatians 6:2}

You can’t bear a burden you don’t know about.

We are commanded to “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” {Romans 12:15}

Again, how are we to weep together if we don’t share our heartaches?

One of my favorite Scriptures about helping one another in times of sorrow is found in Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10. “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”

The simple fact of the matter is no one can help you up if you’re alone. You can be falling apart every single day, but if you do it behind closed doors, no one will know you need help.

Some may argue, “But we’re supposed to be strong in the Lord. In times of despair and darkness, Jesus is supposed to be the only One we turn to.”

Yes and no.

Sometimes in the Kingdom of Heaven, things that seem to be opposite can both be true. God is our anchor, our refuge, our hope in despair. In times of trouble, He is the One Who holds us close and comforts us.

But He also uses people to help carry our burdens, heal, and comfort us.

Look at the writings of the Apostle Paul. There are times when we see him alone in a jail cell, with no one but Jesus to comfort his broken heart and bleeding body.

At other times, we see him surrounded by his fellow laborers who fed him both physically and spiritually. We see them sharing his burden of ministering to the churches and accompanying him on his mission trips. All through Scripture, we see believers in Christ helping one another and sharing their burdens.

The truth is, we were never created to be alone. We aren’t meant to carry every burden by ourselves.

We don’t have to keep pretending everything is okay when it isn’t.

Are you carrying a burden that grows heavier with each passing day? Are you struggling under the weight of a heartache that crushes your spirit?

Then reach out.

Find a trustworthy friend in your church, Bible study group, or community. Ask them for help. There is no shame in admitting weakness. And chances are, after they have pulled you to your feet, dusted you off, and encouraged you to keep looking for the sun amidst the clouds, they’re going to need help themselves.

Then you will be the strong one, reaching down to help them to their feet. You will be the shoulder to cry on and the anchor in the storm.

We were never meant to walk alone.

“A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” {Proverbs 17:17}

“And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.” {I Samuel 23:16}

For ordering information on my devotional book, Tales from Toddlers, click HERE.

To download the first chapter for free, click HERE.

He’s the biggest man in our church, possibly the biggest in the county.

Big Josh, his beautiful wife, and two precious children are faithful members of our church. (This devotional isn’t about their miracle babies, but there’s a story there, too. Those babies were literally prayed into this world!) 🙂

Big Josh likes to help people, and he’s good at it. You’d be hard pressed to find a member of our congregation he hasn’t helped in one way or another. At my daycare alone, he’s built fences, fixed the sewer, mended exploding pipes (another great story, but if I go there, this devotional will get WAY too long!), patched up holes in walls, and fixed several other things my active daycare kiddos have managed to break. 🙂

I remember when Big Josh came over to hang my son’s punching bag in the basement. After he left, my son exclaimed, “Mum! You should have seen it! He lifted the punching bag with ONE ARM!”

Yes, he’s a strong man.

But not strong enough to win a battle on his own that he’s been fighting for quite some time.

Josh was saved as a young man, but he’d be the first to tell you he strayed away from the Lord awhile. And some habits die hard. Really, really hard.

He never tried to hide the fact that he smoked. We didn’t judge him. Our church is full of broken, imperfect people who are under the blood of Jesus. We all have our failings, short-comings, and problems.

No, we didn’t judge him.

But we didn’t want to lose him, either. We lost his dad a few years back, and the doctor said Josh was heading down the same road if he didn’t quit smoking.

Josh tried for a long time to quit. Tried and failed.

Finally, he asked the church to pray for him. The biggest, strongest man in our church admitted that he wasn’t strong enough to fight this battle on his own. He needed his brothers and sisters to fight with him.

And so we prayed. And prayed. And prayed some more.

We knew he was getting close to quitting. We knew he’d cut out a lot of his “daily quota.”

And so we kept on praying.

I remember the afternoon his wife texted me that he’d smoked the last one. He was done.

I did a little happy dance right there in my daycare kitchen.

And the rejoicing at church when he announced that he had conquered his habit! God had answered our prayers. Our brother was free from the chains that had held him for so many years. We were THRILLED!

My friend, you were never meant to walk the road of life alone. You were never meant to fight your battles without the help of your brothers and sisters in Jesus.

You’re just not strong enough. None of us are.

Oh, we like to think we can fight the good fight of faith on our own. We like to think we are strong enough to face every temptation, be victorious over every sin, and never get discouraged in our walk of faith.

But the truth is, God gave us each other for a reason.

My friend, if you are struggling with a battle on your own today, don’t be too strong too ask for help.

Stop the striving, stop the fighting, stop the struggling. You don’t have to fight on your own.

I believe we have this “asking for help” thing all mixed up. We think it shows strength to tough it out on our own.

When really, the strongest thing we can do is admit our weakness and ask for help.

We are stronger together. We are strongest when we are in the trenches together, when we have each other’s backs.

We are strongest when we are holding each other up in prayer, when we are close enough to lift each other up when we stumble.

So if you need help today, ask for it. Reach out to a trusted friend and ask them to pray with you and for you. Find an accountability partner if you are struggling with temptation. Seek out prayer support from your church family.

Don’t be too strong to ask for help.

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16)

For ordering Information on Tales from Toddlers, click HERE.

To download the first chapter for free, click HERE.

Do you want to know the secret of living to a ripe, old age?

I’ll give you a hint: you’ll need some dirt.

Plant yourself a garden!

Okay, there might be a few other factors involved, but studies have shown there are great health benefits for senior citizens who tend gardens.

The physical exercise required to grow a garden is beneficial, of course. And fresh produce is a healthy addition to one’s diet.

But the biggest benefit has to do with anticipation.

You see, there’s much to look forward to in growing a garden. In spring, the ground is prepared and seeds pressed into the fertile soil. Weeks pass as the gardener anxiously awaits the first appearance of tender young shoots breaking through into warm sunlight.

In summer, the gardener tends her growing plants–watering, weeding, keeping away pests–as she looks forward to harvest time. In autumn, she enjoys the tasty goodness of her labor, sharing the bounty with family and friends.

And in winter? Well, that’s the time to pour over seed catalogs, planning for next year’s garden.

No matter what season it is, there’s always the next step to look forward to.

And looking to the future with anticipation helps a lonely heart get through the long, cold nights of winter.

In my own life, I’m aware how anticipation can change my attitude and energy level in an instant. I’ll be driving home Friday evening, utterly exhausted after a huge work-week at my daycare. I feel as if I barely have the energy to drag myself up the porch steps into my house.

Then the phone rings. My sister-in-law’s voice carries excitement.

“Do you want to go see a movie tonight? And go out to eat? Your boys can hang out over here with my guys.”

Instantly, energy races through my body like an Ozark squirrel skittering across the road. I bounce up the stairs and breeze into the house.

“Okay, everyone! Get yourselves ready! We’re going out!”

What happened? The anticipation of an evening out filled me with energy.

The truth is, life isn’t always easy. Sometimes our worlds shatter, and we barely have the strength to make it through our broken days.

Broken relationships, broken bodies, broken finances, broken futures.

How do we get through all the broken stuff? How do we find strength for today when life’s outlook seems so bleak?

By looking forward to the future with anticipation. 

You see, for the Christian, the best is always yet to come. 

God promises everything we need to get through the hard times. He offers comfort in heartache, strength in weakness, provision in need, and hope in darkness.

And best of all, He promises a future so bright we can’t imagine it:

A home in heaven with Him for all eternity.

No more sorrow, pain and disease. No more broken relationships, betrayal, or disappointment. No more bills to pay or bank accounts to worry about. All of the pain and heartache of this world will be behind us, less than a distant memory.

How can you find strength to face today?

By anticipating what God has for all your tomorrows. 

“And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. and he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light upon them, nor any heat. 

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

(Revelation 7:13-14, 16-17)