You Should Have Called

Sign seen in a textile mill, "When your thread becomes tangled, call the foreman." A young woman was new on the job. Her thread became tangled and she thought, "I'll just straighten this out myself." She tried, but the situation only worsened. Finally she called the foreman. "I did the best I could," she said. "No you didn't. To do the best, you should have called me." 

"Do not lean on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5b) means just that, it doesn't mean exhaust your understanding and then ask God - it means don't rely on it...period. When Jesus says in John 15 that we can do nothing of ourselves we don't really believe Him, we don't think He really meant that. Surely He wants to us to try to solve the problem first and then, and only then, seek His help.

Really?