Last night I found myself watching one of my husband’s favorite television shows with him, “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”  The episode we watched involved a god-like entity that controlled the destiny of a planet they visited.  One of their crew members unknowingly violated a law on that planet and was sentenced to death.  Captain Picard was wrestling with the decision of whether to let that one crew member be killed and leaving the planet with no additional casualties or forcefully removing him (saving his life) and risking that the god-like entity might destroy the entire Enterprise and its crew.  I found myself yelling at the tv “why don’t you just ask him?!?”  I wasn’t sure the entity would answer, but he didn’t even ask.  Picard was instead trying to guess what logic and thought process the entity would employ.  After much stress and unnecessary energy spent, he removed the crew member from the planet and waited.  The entity did not react.  Picard was then trying to determine his next course of action and decided to (finally!) ask the entity if he would allow it.  The entity immediately responded.  How many times in our lives do we spend so much unnecessary energy on situations that could be resolved if we just asked the question?

The questions differ, but the idea remains the same.  You are struggling trying to handle all that life is throwing at you that day.  You can’t understand why your spouse who “claims” to love you, doesn’t jump in and help you.  Did you ask?  Do they even know you’re struggling (you are looking like a superwoman on the outside)?

You feel that there is a strain in your relationship with your best friend.  You are “sure” you must have done something that offended her and you wrack your brain reviewing all your interactions over the last week, trying to figure out what it was.  You concoct an elaborate story in your mind of what you said and how she interpreted it incorrectly, but do you ask her?  Maybe she’s dealing with something totally unrelated that is causing her stress and she could really use your help, but she doesn’t ask either.  So now you are both struggling when it could be eased by just asking for some support.

As I was lying in bed last night and reviewing how my husband thinks Captain Picard is the best Enterprise captain because he is so smart and controlled (yes, I was actually thinking about this in bed last night) and thinking he actually wasn’t that smart because he could have caused himself so much less grief if he had just asked, I was caught up short.  How many times have I done the exact same thing?  How many times could I have spared myself anxiety, upset, and stress if I had just asked for what I wanted?  I reviewed my current struggles to determine if anything came to mind where I should ask.  My thoughts were immediately drawn to the constant pain I have in my feet and legs because of my chemo induced peripheral neuropathy.  I try to keep a positive attitude about my nerves’ ability to heal (even though the Neurologist specializing in neuropathy in our area told me seven years ago that it would NEVER get any better).  I eat a healthy, whole food plant based, organic diet and work on my mental and emotional health regularly, but am still in chronic pain.  God knows all I’ve been through over the last eight years.  He knows how I want so badly for my nerves to heal.  But how often do I actually ask Him to heal them?  I sometimes slip it into my other prayers, but how often do I set aside some time just to pour my heart out to Him on this one topic?  Not often enough.

What areas in your life would benefit from you just asking for what you need?  Just asking for what you want?  Just asking for your heart’s deepest desire?  I’m not saying all your problems will magically disappear when you do, but it might be worth finding out.  Like Captain Picard, you will never know until you try.  Just ask!