I have not because I ask not...

Was reading in Judges 13 tonight, which tells the story of the birth of Samson. I know I've read it before, but I was struck by something different tonight. However, background first...

Samson's parents had been childless. An angel of the Lord appears to the wife and tells her that she's going to have a son and that he will be a Nazirite (set apart for God's work). She's so excited that she goes to her husband and tells him, but also tells him that she forgot to ask what the "man of God's name was" (she didn't know he was an angel) or anything else about raising this kid. The father (Manoah) cries out to God, asking him to send the "man of God" back to them to tell them how to raise this kid. God hears his prayer and sends the angel again, who eventually reveals himself as an angel and gives them more particulars on how to raise this kid(sidenote: verses 22-23 are one of the best examples of a practical wife I've read in a long time, but that's neither here nor there).

So, as I'm reading this, I'm considering what I would have done in this situation had I been Manoah. If I was told that a man of God had come to my spouse and I had missed it, would I have cried out to God and asked him to send the man back? Looking at myself honestly, I probably wouldn't have. I probably would have said, "Man! I missed out!" and tried to muddle through on my own raising the kid the best I could have. The thing I need to ask myself is why wouldn't I ask God for help?

I really set myself up. I believe with the best of 'em that God wants to do great things in and through me, but again and again I try to do the things I think I can handle on my own. For example, I was taking an aptitude test tonight in class and did I ask God for help? No.

I know the reasoning (in fact, I can explain it backwords, forwards, standing on my head, and swimming underwater eating crackers), but it's really, really wrong. God has a desire to be a part of EVERYTHING in my life. I firmly believe that. I don't necessarily believe that He wants to take my aptitude test for me, but I do believe that He wants to be a part of it. I don't have Him as a part of things because I don't ask for Him to be a part of things. I just need to ask. Who knows? Perhaps someday He will send the angel back or complete the verbal reasoning section for me. I'll never know unless I ask, right?