Last week one of my American friends in Nicaragua came down with a virus. Most Nicaraguans don’t visit the doctor, but instead go straight to the pharmacist (a prescription is not required for most medications here, you simply go the the pharmacist, explain your symptoms, and they will give you the appropriate medication). While many foreigners will go to a doctor my friend wanted to do things the Nicaraguan way, so they visited the nearest pharmacy. They speak very little Spanish, so they used Google Translate to produce a “script” for their conversation with the pharmacist. They practiced this script, and must have delivered it well, because the pharmacist not only understood them, but preceded to respond rapidly in Spanish. Not wanting to let on that they had no clue what was being said, they simply nodded and said si a lot, finally leaving with three different medications. Upon arriving home they realized they had no idea how to use them. Another interesting factor here is that they often don’t give you the finished product at the pharmacy. For liquid medicines they give you a powder that you then have to mix with water to create the medicine. Once again, since my friend had said si over and over they had no idea how strong to make the medicine. So, they just guessed. As you can imagine, my friend ended up OD’ing on medications, and nearly had to be taken to the emergency room. They’ve learned that next time they need to admit they don’t speak Spanish and take someone with them who can translate.
I share this story because most of us hate to admit we don’t know what we are doing, and we REALLY hate to ask for help. This is especially a problem for us as men. We would rather suffer mightily then ask for help. If you think about that for a minute, that’s really a ridiculous sentiment! Yet, nearly everyday we chose to go it alone instead of asking God to help us with the many trials we face. Look at what Jesus tells us about asking for God’s help and guidance in life:
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:12-14
God desires to hear our needs in life, and God desires to help us with our needs. God never meant us to go through life alone based solely on our own abilities. He desires to hear us and to help us. We need to realize that it is actually VERY manly to ask for God’s help. This week, share with God all of the challenges you are facing and the struggles that you have. Stop suffering needlessly, and start asking for help from the creator, sustainer, and savior of all.
