There is no stupid question...

Does the title of this post take you back to junior high? It does me...I can still recall various teachers sharing these words. My parents and other adults echoed them as well thru the years, but after a recent visit with a friend this line has come back to mind.

We were sharing about our difficulty in asking - asking others to watch our children, asking our husbands to do this or that, asking our friends to help, asking a neighbor to borrow something and the list goes on.

As I've thought about our conversation, I've wondered "Why? Why is it so hard to ask?" Actually we discussed this a bit...we don't want to be a burden or a bother.

I've thought about this numerous times before and ended at this point, but this time it was different and memories of days gone by have shifted my thinking a bit.

During junior high why did teachers have to tell us, "There is no stupid question"? And as a middle school teacher myself, why did I repeat the phrase? I believe it all comes back to one simple thing - we, well I, and perhaps you too, worry about others think.

Why doesn't the 13 year old ask a question in math? She doesn't want her peers to think she's dumb. Why doesn't the freshman ask the teacher to repeat the information she just shared? He doesn't want her to think he wasn't listening. Why don't I ask a friend for help? I don't want her to think I'm unable.

God has challenged me to think about the answer I'm quick to give in response to my failure in asking - do I really not want to burden the other person or am I more concerned about him/her seeing me as a bother? This question has my attention and friend, I pray you'll give it a little consideration yourself.

I'll admit, God has convicted me that all too often I don't ask because I'm worried what people will think. You know what that is called? P-R-I-D-E! And friend, that is not a good thing.

Granted I can't ask my husband to do everything and there are times I need to tell my kids what to do rather than asking them to do it, but asking is a good thing. Better yet, it's a Godly thing. In His Word, He commands us to ask. A few verses to support that statement -

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Luke 11:9

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matt. 7:7-8

At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?" 1 Kings 3:5

Is there a question you need to ask? Can I encourage you to do just that today!! And may I suggest that you start by spending some time with God and allow Him to be the first one to hear your question! I did just that and He's given me some questions to ask...some of Him, others myself and several for those I love. In our quiet time together I wrote them down and then presented my first request, "Lord give me the strength and courage to ask the questions You need me to ask!"

Friend, I hope you and I will remember what our former teachers said and move on doing what God commands us to do! As those same teachers would say, "If you never ask the question, you'll never know the answer!!"