All You Have to Do Is Ask

President Barack Obama once said “Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. . . It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something. . .” It can be hard to ask for help, even when we need it the most. This applies to anything from whether you need help on your job or whether you need direction from God. Ask yourself what nerve you are hitting when you ask for help. Are you afraid of rejection? Are you scared you will be viewed as weak or incompetent? Do you want to be viewed as an independent woman? Are you worried that your problem is too small for God? You have to remember that you don’t know everything, nor are you expected to and that is okay.  
 I remember crying almost every day at my old job. I dreaded going in, and I was just so unhappy there. I would complain to my family and friends all the time about the issues I faced every day at work. The last straw came when I put in a request for PTO a month in advance and was immediately denied a minute after putting the request in. I had been there almost two years and had only taken a handful of days off from work. I put my two weeks in right after that. I took a vacation, regrouped, and found another job not long after. Unfortunately, I found myself back in the same cycle that I was in at my previous job. I didn’t understand why this kept happening to me and what the problem was. I was frustrated, defeated, sad, and quite frankly, depressed. I had the education, the experience, and the personality to be successful, but I was never finding satisfaction and happiness in the job.
Getting to this low point forced me to go to the one person I never vented or turned to in this situation: Jesus. I completely broke down one night and cried out for the Lord to hear my desires. I prayed for Him to give me guidance and direction for my life. For Him to place me in a position where I can do meaningful work every day and enjoy going to my job. I cried out for everything I wanted in my next position, and then I began to put my resume back out there. The Lord blessed me with a position in the nonprofit sector helping to offer free education and certifications in the technology sector with amazing benefits, fully remote and great PTO. I say all this to say that if I would’ve asked God sooner, then I wouldn’t have had to go through two jobs that drained my mental health. James 4:2 says that “you have not because you ask not.”
For me personally, I feel like I didn’t ask God for help because I allowed the enemy to plant seeds of doubt about my abilities in my mind. I allowed myself to believe that I couldn’t go into the nonprofit sector because of my lack of experience in that field. I allowed myself to feel ungrateful for wanting a change in my career. I really allowed the enemy to tell me things that I knew deep down weren’t true, but I was feeling vulnerable and that’s when we’re most susceptible to attacks from the enemy. I found that by simply asking for help, you gain the ability to move forward, and you gain the opportunity to learn. I’ve learned so much about myself from the moment I decided to put my career in the Lord’s hands. I’ve learned to trust in Him and only Him, not in man and what their worldly expectations are.
Whatever you’re dealing with, whether it be a new career path, you’re looking for guidance on your future spouse or you need help with your family, I ask you to lay it on the alter and completely give it to the Lord. He will give you the desires of your heart, and He will bless you exceedingly and abundantly beyond your greatest expectations. My favorite Bible verse that continues to speak to me is “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24
Guest Blogger, Jasmine Smith