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, NIV)
Ploughing straight ahead on my own course has always been my preferred modus operandi. I value rugged individualism, self-reliance, and the power of pure determination to overcome obstacles in life. I have that ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ swagger, the kind I imagine my heroes have all shared. After all, if you aren’t helping yourself, who are you helping?
I wouldn’t call myself a ‘prepper,’ so to speak. You know the type - those who hoard freeze-dried food in five-gallon, hermetically sealed buckets in their backyard underground bunker. The ones who have emergency room grade trauma kits in each of their vehicles. The ones who stockpile ammunition for the coming apocalypse. The ones who bought up all the toilet paper back in 2020. You know the type. I don’t qualify, at least not to those folks, as a serious individualist. I may have spent way too much time organizing my EDC (every-day carry, for you total conformist ‘sheeple’ out there), but I’m not nearly as self-reliant as I may imagine.
I’m more of the ‘figure this problem out and fix it myself’ type of rugged individualist. Well, maybe I’m not really so rugged. I once ‘fixed’ my parents’ dishwasher so well that after several hours of my ‘fixing’ we called a real plumber. I’ve also been known to call an electrician on the emergency after-hours line after I’ve nearly electrocuted myself and potentially started a small house fire. I’m not much of an auto mechanic either, as it turns out. But I am an individualist. A very stubborn individualist.
The problem with being so self-reliant is that sometimes I fail to ask for help before I get myself in trouble. Had I asked the electrician to show me how to install the light switch before I attempted it myself, and learned from his wisdom, I may have avoided the emergency call. Had I sought out the proper tools and techniques I could have gleaned from the installation manual, I could have had my parent’s dishwasher running in no time. Had I visited a mechanic when I noticed the knocking under my hood, I could have avoided the major blow to my finances and my pride when I had to replace the engine in that old car.
Ask. Seek. Knock.
It sounds simple when Jesus tells us that all we have to do is ask, seek, and knock and all the things will be given to us. It sounds so simple that we often ignore this advice, this teaching, outright. Here’s the truth, friends: all the rugged individualism in the world, all the self-reliance and determination you can muster, is worthless if you are not teachable. Jesus tried to warn you.
A teachable person asks questions of those more knowledgable in a subject. A teachable person seeks answers when they cannot figure the problem out from within. A teachable person isn’t afraid to knock on the door of someone with more experience before blindly leaping into a mistake. Jesus was, perhaps, the greatest teacher of all time. Yet, what good is a teacher to those who are not willing to be teachable?
Not being teachable can be a problem in less obvious ways as well. For instance, we know there is more to intelligence than simply gathering knowledge. Emotional intelligence is critical to interpersonal and social success. It’s possible to be intellectually teachable, gaining knowledge and learning skills or talents, while still being emotionally unteachable. I’ve experienced the same interpersonal relationship issues throughout my life with more than one person. At some point, I had to ask myself if I was the problem, and if so, what was the solution. I began to learn from others, asking and seeking and even knocking on a few doors, in my quest for answers about how better to relate to others. Eventually, through leaning on others with more experience and different perspectives, I was able to learn new interpersonal skills and correct my behavior for the better.
No matter the issue you are going through, be it professional or academic, personal or social, household repair or relationship repair, being teachable is the critical link to success. Jesus taught this, calling one who would shirk criticism from others and forge ahead without recognizing their own weaknesses a ‘hypocrite.’
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
(Matthew 7: 3-5, NIV)
We know what we know, but we don’t know what we don’t know. It’s important to keep this in mind when ‘forging ahead’ as I often do. For this reason, and because our Savior loved us enough to try to teach us, ask yourself, “Am I teachable?”
J.M.D
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