Parental Counsel
6 My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor,
Have [a]given a pledge for a stranger,
2 If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,
Have been caught with the words of your mouth,
3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the [b]hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.
4 Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
I could dive into the evils of debt and co-signing loans, but there is something else that is equally (or more) important in this passage. The main takeaway is not to do foolish things, but if you do… Then what? He starts with “deliver yourself”, but how, you’re caught in a snare, and at the mercy of your neighbor (or a bank, or fill-in-the-blank).
He recommends two things, first, humble yourself and ask your neighbor for help. Yes, possibly even the one who you made the promise to, and you’ve failed them. The worst thing we can do when we make a mistake, is to try and cover it up. Pride does strange things, and we have a very difficult time admitting when things have blown up in our face.
We want to pretend that everything is okay, because people might think poorly of us if they knew what was really happening… But what will they think when they find out the truth, and that you tried to hide it? No, pride is our downfall in this, and pretty much every situation. Humble yourself, and be honest.
And then? Get to work cleaning up the mess. There’s no sense in asking for help if you’re going to be half-hearted about making it right. Work your tail off, so that those around you know you are serious about doing it better this time.
It all starts with being honest and humble though, and those two qualities are important in everything we do. There’s only One who has it all together, and I’m not Him, and neither are you. So it’s okay to admit your weakness. As God told Paul, His strength is made perfect in our weakness. When you can’t help yourself, let God show up and be strong for you.