Ecclesiastes 4:9–10
“Two are better than one… 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.”
Ecclesiastes gives us a simple truth: “Two are better than one.” The Teacher pictures a man falling and having someone nearby to help him back to his feet. Then comes the warning: “Woe to him that is alone when he falleth.”
Men, sometimes the wall we build is independence.
Perhaps you trusted someone and they disappointed you. Maybe people disappeared when you needed them most. You opened up once and what you shared was used against you. So you made a decision: I won’t need anybody again.
For a man in prison, that mindset can become a form of protection. Trust must be exercised carefully, and vulnerability in the wrong environment can carry real consequences. But protecting yourself wisely is different from deciding that nobody will ever be allowed close again.
Men outside prison build the same wall.
We can be surrounded by family, colleagues, church members and friends while remaining completely unknown. People know our name, our job and our responsibilities, but nobody knows what we are actually carrying.
There is a difference between being private and being isolated.
God did not design men to carry everything alone. Throughout Scripture, men walked alongside other men. Moses had Aaron and Hur. David had Jonathan. Paul had Barnabas, Silas and Timothy. Even Jesus gathered disciples around Him.
Needing godly relationships does not make a man weak.
Sometimes strength looks like making the phone call. Sometimes courage is saying, “I’m struggling.” Sometimes the hand God uses to lift you belongs to another person.
This doesn’t mean trusting everybody. Wisdom chooses carefully. Find people of character—men who can pray with you, challenge you, listen without exploiting your vulnerability and tell you the truth when you need it.
Men, don’t become so committed to protecting yourself that you imprison yourself. Walls may keep the wrong people out, but they can also keep the right people from getting in. You were never designed to walk alone.
God bless you, Men of God. Continue in your roar.