Just Ask
Faith can question God because faith looks for help in God more than itself.
Perhaps you have heard the horror story about inquisitive little boys with too many questions getting rapped on the knuckles by their religious instructor, or curious church members scolded by their pastor for daring to second guess God, so you figured it’s best not to ask anything about the Almighty, much less drop a note in his suggestion box. After all, didn’t Lot’s wife turn into a pillar of salt for going against God’s instructions? And didn’t God zap Zechariah’s tongue and ears so that he couldn’t speak or hear because he questioned God’s announcement that he and Elizabeth, unable to have children, could soon expect the birth of a son? You may feel like Dorothy, the tin man, and gang approaching the Wizard of Oz ready to recoil at his thunderous disapproval of those who dare to question authority.
So it’s best just to keep quiet and let pastors and deep spiritual thinkers seek the answers, if they dare, to questions you probably shouldn’t be considering in the first place if you’re a good Bible-believing, church-going Christian. Just go to church, pay, pray, and obey and everything will be okay.
Admittedly, the lessons the Bible teaches us from the experiences of Lot’s wife, Zechariah, and a host of others do conclude it is possible to approach the Almighty with questions about his policies or procedures and not make him very happy. But rather than looking in the Bible and finding in some hidden chapter “The Top Ten Questions Never to Ask God,” we look in the Bible and see that it has less to do with what one asks God and more to do with how one asks God. After all, didn’t Gideon ask God to confirm his promise by performing that trick of making dew appear on the fleece but not the ground? And didn’t Abraham, six times, ask God to reconsider his destruction plans for Sodom and Gomorrah? And they both lived to tell about it!
Look closely at those accounts, however, and you’ll hear these men address God with words like “fine sir” and “may the Lord not be angry with me but let me speak.” God, The Supreme Commander of the Universe, has no problem with those who wish to inquire of his ways, seek an explanation, or offer a suggestion, as a matter of fact, he invites us to ask, seek, and knock. He announces his open door policy with the words, “Call upon me” (Psalm 50:15). Even Jesus encourages, “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish” (John 15:7). Go ahead and ask God, and you know what, go ahead and rock the boat a little bit, God is glad you’re interested. But try to shove him overboard and take over as captain and you’ll have problems swimming in the sea of his wrathful countermeasures, like Jonah did.
When what you know about God and what you see in your life and in world events each day simply don’t compute, or your system of understanding locks up, or your personal plans crash, call on God. Don’t vent as if he’s the reason for all your problems. Don’t impatiently sneer at him as if he’s involved in some secret conspiracy to make your life miserable. Faith can question God because faith looks for help in God more than itself, admits its own human weakness and limitations, and is willing to take whatever answer God gives and accept it unconditionally – no matter how little it makes sense or how much it hurts.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I have lots of questions. Sometimes I don’t ask them and I should. Sometimes I ask them in ways I shouldn’t. With the help of your Spirit, who intercedes and fills in what I can’t understand, guide me in my prayer life to come to you always in faith. Amen.