Help! by Randy Rowley 2/10/17 ©

For central Texas in early December, it was cold.  The thermometer in Ryan’s (my son) truck indicated 31 degrees, which made this FCS duck hunt the first sub-freezing one of the season.  We launched at Friendship Park on Lake Granger and proceeded west to our usual cove in the Sore Finger Wildlife Management Area.

Unbeknownst to us, our frequent hunting partner, Mr. Murphy, joined us again.  Ken Miller started the fun by losing his balance while setting out decoys and falling into the lake up to his neck.  He crammed the buttstock of his unloaded shotgun into the muddy bottom and got up quickly – so quickly that the rest of us didn’t know that he had gone down.  Some water went down the front of his neckline and up his left sleeve.

A few minutes later, my Lucky Duck (a motorized decoy on a pole) fell over into the water right after legal shooting time.  I waited about five minutes and then waded over to it to push it back into the mud.  The pole wouldn’t go in any deeper, so I moved it a few feet over, as I thought a rock must be hindering it.  It still wouldn’t go in deep enough to stand on its own by pushing it with my arms, so I put my weight on it.  The decoy went sideways, and so did I.

I fell into the water right shoulder first up to my neck.  I quickly sat up and got my feet underneath me to stand, but my boots couldn’t get a grip on the slick bottom.  I then turned the decoy over to push myself up, but that didn’t help.  Although I discovered why the pole hadn’t gone in deeper – it had bent 90 degrees.  I then did the only thing left to do – I called for help.  Anticipating my need, Binh Chu and Ryan (my son) were already on their way to be human tow trucks, with big grins on their faces.  (At least they had the decency not to laugh at me.)  They soon had me back on my feet.

The water temperature was in the low 60’s, and I was pretty drenched.  Fortunately, I had yet to put my heavy coat on.  I took off my long john top, sweatshirt, and fleece shirt and hung them in a tree.  I then replaced them with my coat. Other than having cold feet due to wet socks, I was fine.

We only had three teal come to the right side of our decoy spread to cap off the morning, and Ken and I missed them.

It’s probably fair to say that asking for help is not something that many men, including me, enjoy doing.  For most of us, our reluctance has been drilled into us by our male relatives and friends.  Or maybe it’s just stubborn pride.  Perhaps it’s a combination of both.

In addition to a tendency to be pigheaded and arrogantly independent, we are also reluctant to admit that we are deficient.  That is something that King David understood from his life of hard knocks.  He wrote in Psalm 86:1, “Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.”

Perhaps because Jesus hung out with his disciples 24/7 and witnessed their stubbornness, selfishness, and vanity on display for three years, is why he often told us to ask for help.  It’s all over his road map for the abundant life.  He commands us to humble ourselves and ask for help.  Some of the many things that he said on the subject include:

• “‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you’” (Matthew 7:7).
• “‘If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’” (Matthew 7:11).
• ‘“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours’” (Mark 11:24).
• “‘And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son’” (John 14:13).
• “‘If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you’” (John 15:7).

Jesus promised an answer to the one who diligently asks him for help.  He does not answer many of our prayers because we’re not serious when we pray.  We ask halfheartedly out of obedience.  Then, when he doesn’t answer our prayers as we think they should be, we’re surprised or even angered.  But what do we expect when we ask God to care about something for which we care so little?

We often forget we must humble ourselves, repent, and seek God’s face before we ask him for help.  2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

We also need to ask for help from each other.  Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”  But how can we expect another brother or sister to help carry our burdens if we don’t let them know that we need their help?  We must swallow our pride and, as I did when I couldn’t get on my feet in the muck, call for help!

Randy putting his waders back on