Daring To Ask God The Hard Questions

Our hearts have some fundamental questions about our Abba.

Is He real? // Does He like me? // Am I worth it to Him? // Can I trust Him completely? // Does He really have good stored up for me? // If He really knew me, would He like me? // Has He forgotten me? // Does He care? // If God loves me, why am I suffering? // If God is good, why did He allow that to happen?

There are different expressions + levels, but they can be traced back to Eve’s cardinal question: Is He for me?

These are questions we work our lives to find the answer to – through the pursuit of wealth, success, approval, perfection, religion, etc – and the futile desperation of the search is further exacerbated by the almost-universal unspoken agreement in the Church that good Christians don’t challenge the system.

For real? Good Christians don’t question the system, don’t rock the boat, don’t step outta line. Hogwash.

There is often a deep-seated shame attached to our core questions because of this deception. Shame for doubting, shame for not knowing, shame for wondering why…. and as a result? Shame for who we fundamentally are.

Because the answers we get to “Is God for me?” become the very root from which all other fruit of our lives flow.

And I think: Maybe we need to pull on the brakes, stop and think this through for a bit. Perhaps it’s time we stopped drinking the Kool-Aid of religiosity, and instead sat by the streams of Living Water to hear what the Lord’s heart is in all this.

God is not insecure.

Can we start by saying this? God is not afraid of our questions. Neither is He an angry, ungenerous dictator who is ready to pounce on us when we mess up.

God is a good, good Father with a heart as wide as the universe, and He can take your questions. In fact, He planted those questions in you.

The purpose of questions are meant to draw you deeper into His heart. Misty Edwards puts it this way: Hunger is the escort into the deeper things of You.

The book of Proverbs says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; and the honor of kings to seek it out.”

There is a biblical mandate to know God + study His Word by asking questions and seeking answers, and it’s seen in examples all through the Bible:

  • Abraham received one of the greatest pictures of God’s covenant of grace when he asked God the impertinent question, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall posses it?”
  • Job got a response, and subsequently a revelation of God’s nature + power, because he dared to ask the hard questions that offended his religious friends.
  • Moses went into a deeper relationship with God when he asked bold questions like “What is your name?”, “Show me your ways” and ” Show me your glory”.
  • David, who lived close to God’s heart, was full of (oftentimes angsty) questions.
  • The whole prophetic book of Habakkuk was built around a dialog between God and the prophet Habbakuk as he asked God a series of questions.
  • Peter’s letters to the Romans + Corinthians were built around questions being asked and answered.

But the One who seemed to love questions the most was Jesus.

Jesus spoke in parables so He could clearly define those in the inner circle and those on the outside.

The mark of distinction? The inner circle (His disciples) came to Him with many questions; the outer circle (the religious people) did not.

Jesus commended His disciples for asking Him about the meaning of His parables, saying that the questioners had found the secret of the Kingdom of God (Mark 4:10.11). He got angry at the Pharisees when they stopped asking questions and were silent (Mark 3:5).

Jesus told us to ask, seek, and knock.

In essence, God’s heart has always been this — “Press in closer to Me. Seek Me. Seek Me and you will find Me. Ask Me all the things you don’t understand, come to Me with your questions — I put those questions there so that you’d come running to Me. Then I will answer and show You wonderful things you don’t yet know. Let your questions drive you closer to My heart. Dare to ask, boldly seek. I don’t rebuke questions, I welcome them. Your questions are not a sign of unbelief, only a need for understanding which I am only too willing to give to you. Stubborn refusal to acknowledge the doubts and questions is what angers Me, for it is religious pride to think that you have it all. Come to Me, beloved, just as you are. Bare your heart, lay down the religious armor that keeps weighing you down. Sit with Me, speak with Me, ASK. I will answer you, and even more than that, I will reveal Myself to you. That’s a promise.”

So maybe I think that we need to humble ourselves a little.

Find that humility to say that we don’t have to know everything, because we belong to an all-knowing God.

To be humble like a child so we have courage to try, seek, fall, and keep trying again without ever feeling like we’ve lost our dignity.

To get that special brand of humble-pie that isn’t caught up with “What will they think of me?” and is all absorbed with following after our father.

Oh that we would find the humility to finally admit “Oh God, I need You!” so our souls can finally breathe in relief from that tireless religious strife that leads us nowhere.

Jesus’ parables were deliberately told to confound the holy/wise (in their own eyes) and to edify the humble/those who sought Jesus with a pure heart.

And I really believe that it’s in the losing of ourselves that we find who we really are. Because like I said before, the answers we get to “Is God for me?” become the very root from which all other fruit of our lives flow.

So beloved one, today can I release you to go to Him with your questions?

Enter in behind the veil, bare-faced, no holds barred. Ask Him honestly, then wait.

God will answer you. Promise.
 
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Idream of Eden. We were made for the Garden and the full pleasure of paradise. We got separated at Eden and we spend our whole lives searching for a way back into that secret paradise. All of life's pursuit + pain + questioning can be traced back to man's search for home. Our deepest instincts tell us that we are not home outside of this reality, and our souls will never stop searching until we return. Only there will we find rest and our true being. There, we begin to dream again the dreams that have laid asleep in our hearts all along.

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