Questions We Could Be Asking
On the insoluble questions of life.
God is not afraid of our questions, but often the questions we silently (sometimes not so silently) wrestle with can be daunting. I have many questions only God can answer about the trajectory of my life. I find myself hesitating to voice these questions in prayer for three reasons; Firstly, I realise He already knows the questions churning in my heart… yet no answer is forthcoming. Secondly, I suspect I may not be ready to receive the answers. Thirdly, I do not want the questions to overshadow the good God has done and is currently doing in my life.
Despite this, I’m acknowledging my questions, I cry them out when the need arises, and I’m prayerfully waiting for God’s response.
Not acknowledging our questions, bottling up the emotions they trigger, and neglecting prayer can lead to all manner of self-destructive avoidant behaviours (ask me how I know).
‘Whatever he tried to be, whatever he undertook— evil and falsehood repulsed him and barred him from all paths of activity. And yet he had to live, he had to keep busy. It was too frightening to be under the burden of all the insoluble questions of life, and he gave himself to the first amusements that came along, only so as to forget them…’ ( describing a despairing Pierre in Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace)
This haunting phrase stood out to me — ‘under the burden of the insoluble questions of life’. Insoluble is defined as something impossible to solve. Are our questions only a means of finding solutions to the messiness of life? or are they intended to drive us to something more– Something altogether eternal and holy?
Some of our questions emerge out of long seasons of frustration, or what feels like unbearable pain and grief. Our unanswered questions around the existence of evil and falsehood in the world may concern us until Jesus returns. We have no guarantee of clear cut answers in this life. We see through a glass darkly now, but thank God it won’t always be that way.
The majority of our questions come from a genuine desire to understand, to offer consolation to others and to grow in the truth. Proverbs 25 speaks of a timely word being spoken as akin to ‘apples of gold in settings of silver’. Likewise, a timely answered question can help heal the wounds of the past, or pave a clearer way for the future.
But there are times when we are quick to question God when deep down in our hearts…we don't really want to know the answer.
Sometimes we already know the answer, yet continue to ask the question hoping for a different response.
I wonder if we could be asking better questions.
Significant questions do not equal unbelief. They can co-exist alongside strong roots of faith in the goodness of God. They can lead us to a deeper faith and an ingrained trust in the one who holds the answers.
Moses had the astonishing privilege of speaking with God face to face, experiencing the very heights of friendship and deep communion with Him. Yet Moses had moments of exasperation, questioning God; ‘So Moses asked the Lord, “Why have you brought such trouble on your servant? Why are you angry with me, and why do you burden me with all these people?’ (Numbers 11:11 CSB)
“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.” Matthew 7:7-11 (CSB)
I am thankful that we have a heavenly Father who in His sovereignty is not afraid of our questions. It would be strange if we didn’t have questions for God; considering His unfathomable nature and the wonder of His ways.
The passage in Matthew 7 is related to prayer; asking the Father for what we need. Prayers in the Psalms often begin with questions to God;
How long, Lord? (Psalm 13:1)
Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide in times of trouble? (Psalm 10:1-2 )
Lord, who can dwell in Your tent? Who can live in Your holy mountain? (Psalm 15:1)
Who is He this King of Glory? (Psalm 24:8,10)
The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1)
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? (Psalm 2:1)
How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? (Psalm 13:2)
When we begin to doubt God’s word, to question our salvation or God’s will for our lives—instead of asking God to take away those doubts we can ask:
‘Who do I have in heaven but you? And I desire nothing on earth but you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.’ (Psalm 73: 25-26 CSB)
Or like Simon Peter; ‘Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life’ (John 6: 68 CSB)
When strife and division are running rampant in our home, our church or in our personal relationships— rather than asking why everyone is so difficult to get along with, we can ask ourselves:
“What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you?” James 4:1 (CSB)
When secular society tells us we are foolish for believing the gospel, for denying self, for taking up our proverbial cross and following Christ. Instead of asking why we have to be so different to everybody else and swim upstream we can ask:
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish?” 1 Corinthians 1: 20 (CSB)
These are the kind of questions that expose the lies of the enemy, bring us back to Christ and encourage us to gain an eternal perspective. They should drive us to our knees in prayer. They should lead us to richer bible study and greater understanding.
When we seek we will find. May we receive the answers we truly need by asking wiser questions—with an ear to hear, a humble heart and a willing spirit before our omniscient God.
(Lord From Sorrows Deep I Call—Psalm 42)
Storms within my troubled soul
Questions without answers
On my faith these billows roll
God, be now my shelter
Why are you cast down my soul?
Hope in Him who saves you
When the fires have all grown cold
Cause this heart to praise You