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In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. - Psalm 5:3 7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7,8 For various reasons, it has always been hard for me to ask for help. Whether attempting to prove my capabilities (to myself included), pride, or plain stubbornness, I despise admitting my needs. With God, I figure he knows what I need so why ask him? In fact, if it was truly a need, he would have provided it by now, right? Wrong. He knows we all need salvation but he doesn’t provide that without our asking. He wants a relationship, he wants us to talk to him, to trust him. He wants intimacy. Many times, I think He isn’t answering when he isn’t answering the way I want, rather the way I need. I’ve told him I needed someone to talk to at that moment to reassure me. He responded You need to look to me for reassurance, trust Shelly, trust and wait. I’ve told him I needed isolation, to focus on him. He responded I did not create you for isolation. Since when is this all about you? What about my other children who need to see me through you? Who can touch their lives like only you can? I’ve told him I needed a higher paying job. He responded You need to prove to me that you can handle the money I give you now before I will give you more. I’ve told him I needed a new supervisor who wasn’t so unreasonable. He responded You need to respect the one I’ve given you, and show her love that can only come from Jesus. I’ve told him, as recently as yesterday, that I am ready to come Home and be with Jesus. He responded You need to finish the things I created you for. He has never failed to provide for my every need. Never. I have failed to ask him for things I desire. I imagine him showing me something spectacular that stimulates my heart, wanting me to come sit on his knee and talk to him about it. Instead, I bitterly turn away, thinking how unfair it is that I have to settle for so much less. I never ask him, so he doesn’t give it to me… and both of us shed a tear.

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

7 people to cut loose from your inner circle

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