It is OK to Ask for Help

Nothing makes one feel so strong as a call for help.  Pope Paul VI.  

Asking for others’ guidance helps you see what you may not be able to see.  It’s always important to check your ego and ask for help.  Ken Blanchard

Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.  I do that every day.  Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength.  Barack Obama.

It’s okay to not be okay.  It’s okay to ask for help.  It’s okay to take a break.  Mental health is just as important as physical health.  You can’t neglect one without neglecting the other.  Simone Biles

The Christian life is not a constant high.  I have my moments of deep discouragement.  I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, “O God, forgive me,” or “Help me.”  Billy Graham

If you are at a hard place in life and hesitant to ask for help, God invites you to ask Him so He can meet your needs.  David Jeremiah

The advice from a Pope, a self-help guru, a President, religious leaders, and even star athletes is to ask for help! 

So why is it hard for you to ask for help?  Do you fear rejection?  Are you afraid of being judged by people, seeing you are not perfect?  Are you worried you will be disappointed in the help you receive?  Does the thought of trusting others put you in a state of panic?  Are you saying to yourself, I am having enough problems?  The last thing I need to do is be vulnerable.  Are you letting your fears control you?  World Class athlete Simone Biles articulated that she has always had anxiety.  She noted that before the last Olympics, “it got really bad.”  She described feeling “overwhelmed” and “felt like I was going to pass out.”  

Many of us grapple with overwhelming fear and anxiety.  These feelings of fear and anxiety push us to do or not do things, controlling our actions and decisions.  Fear and anxiety trigger the same region of the brain as does pain.  The fear of asking for help causes the same reaction as pain; you tell yourself – make it disappear.

What does the Bible say about asking for help?  Let’s look at the very beginning when God created Adam.  He created Adam. God told him to take care of the Garden of Eden.  God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18)  The concept of needing help and asking for it continues throughout the Bible.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 instructs us to ask for help because a “strand of three is not easily broken.”  

Yet, it is difficult for many of us to ask for help when needed.

“I found that with depression, one of the most important things you can realize is that you’re not alone.  You’re not the first to go through it, you’re not the last to go through it.”  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Our preferred way of handling life’s issues is to grin and bear it.  Never asking for help, pretending everything is FINE.  Is this your thought process?  I should be able to handle my problems.  My issue is not big enough to worry others.  I don’t want to burden anyone. 

You are not the only one with this unhealthy thought pattern.  However, your fear of asking for help limits your accomplishment and success.  This inability to ask for help restricts your emotional growth, curbs your intimacy with others, and hampers healing.  

At the top of her career, Simone Biles recognized her need for help.  She stepped back and got the help she required.  Now the headline reads, “Biles cruises to record eighth national title.”   You are probably not an Olympic athlete.  Still, we all must recognize our needs, struggles, and shortcomings and ask for help.  Help from God and from others!

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.  Matthew 7:7

Cheryl Gowin and Dennis Gowin.  Call us with your feedback, comments, issues, or questions; our phone number is 434-808-2637.