A Life of Unanswered Questions

Introduction

Have you ever had a situation that has led you to question everything you believe? I have had issues and problems in my life that have challenged my faith, theology, and joy.

There have been two times in particular where I have felt a deep sense of hopelessness and abandonment. I could not imagine that I have ever come close to what Jesus experienced on the cross when He stated those all so familiar words, “Father, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). Yet, I can certainly say, I have felt like I have been just as forsaken by God as Jesus was on that cross.

As human beings, we often feel most helpless when we are least in control. Interestingly, God has placed in us the desire to want to be in control. At the same time, God has prescribed to us the responsibility of being dependent on Him. So then, we are always involved in this struggle between our nature and our Christian or godly responsibility. Therefore, faith is the ability to conquer our natural instinct to occupy a position of control over life with a spiritual discipline that leads to our ultimate happiness.

One of the classical examples of human suffering is the book of Job. This book was written to describe the dilemma of human suffering. Even more, it was written to describe the challenges of suffering as a righteous person. There are few things that we can draw from this book:

Satan is real

Forces of darkness are given permission to oppress the people of God

The fallen nature of mankind is a critical problem

God’s claim is that Job will not forsake Him in the midst of the most oppressed moments of his life. God is proven to be correct. However, in addition to this proven point we discover how people, even righteous people, can act when they lose control of their life. Though Job maintained his commitment to God, we also see that at the loss of his comfortable life, he reacted as one who had never known God. He cursed the day he was born, he took a self-righteous attitude, and even summons God to court. This is all because he mistook the providence of God for his own personal control.

Brothers and sisters, we are not animals who are dependent on other creatures. We are creatures, the only creatures in creation, made in the image of God. As the image-bearers of God, we differ from all other creatures by means of natural instinct. Our natural instinct, being wrapped in God-given wisdom and knowledge, is the powerful means by which we exercise our dominion. We are the most powerful creatures on earth—not because we walk on two legs—but because we have a God-like instinctive nature powered by God-given wisdom and knowledge. This is almost too much power for one creature to have, and can become our greatest enemy if we are not sensible enough to manage our responsibility.

This is why we should be very careful when saying what we would have done if we were Adam in Garden of Eden, before the fall. We have often thought that our flesh is the major problem, but what did Adam wrestle with before sin gained mastery over him? He did not wrestle with sin before he wrestled with his God-given instinct. He wrestled with his God-given instinct, and he loss because he wanted to have a sort of control that God did not desire for him.

Now, as I mentioned before there were two times in my life where I have felt abandoned. And yet, when I use the word “abandoned,” I mean out of control. The first time was approximately 5 years ago and the second was as recent as yesterday. The first experience was altogether different from the last. During the first instance, I was helpless and had nothing. Yet, this second time I am the most resourced I have ever been and I still have this pain-staking feeling of uncontrollableness. My point in referencing these two instances is not to warrant your pity. Rather, it is to demonstrate how one’s resourcefulness or lack thereof, does nothing for the feeling of uncontrollableness. No matter how much money or how little money you have, the feeling of uncontrollableness cannot be overcome by things.

The feeling of uncontrollableness can be described another way. It can be described as the life of unanswered questions. One of the surest way to feel out of control is to feel ignorant. Again, going back to the Garden of Eden—Eve felt out of control and decided to do something about it. Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not simply a desire to be smarter. It was a desire to be in control. It was a faithless act that demonstrates how uncomfortable it is for us to be out of control. This uncontrollableness or life of unanswered questions leads to three things:

Discouragement

Anxiety

Hopelessness

All throughout Scripture, we find that individuals and communities struggled with feelings of uncontrollableness and the life of unanswered questions.

Psalm 13:1-4 “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me? Consider me and answer, Lord my God. Restore brightness to my eyes; otherwise, I will sleep in death. My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,” and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.”

Psalm 79:1-5, 9-12 “God, the nations have invaded your inheritance, desecrated your holy temple, and turned Jerusalem into ruins. They gave the corpses of your servants to the birds of the sky for food, the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the earth. They poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. We have become an object of reproach to our neighbors, a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us. How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy keep burning like fire?” “God of our salvation, help us, for the glory of your name. Rescue us and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake. Why should the nations ask, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, let vengeance for the shed blood of your servants be known among the nations. Let the groans of the prisoners reach you; according to your great power, preserve those condemned to die. Pay back sevenfold to our neighbors the reproach they have hurled at you, Lord.”

Psalm 94:3-6 “Lord, how long will the wicked— how long will the wicked celebrate? They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. Lord, they crush your people; they oppress your heritage. They kill the widow and the resident alien and murder the fatherless.”

The Bible is filled with stories of individuals who lamented their current circumstances simply because they lacked control and could not find the right answers to life’s most difficult questions. I want to share with you four simple responses to facing this sort of life and how you can overcome a life of unanswered questions.

4 Reasons to Persevere

There were four attributes of God that can help us stay centered in our faith, theology, and joy. These four attributes are:

The love of God

Psalm 13:5 “But I have trusted in your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in your deliverance.”

The trustworthiness of God

Psalm 31:14-16 “But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” The course of my life is in your power; rescue me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors. Make your face shine on your servant; save me by your faithful love.”

Psalm 37:3,5 “Trust in the Lord and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely.” “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act,”

The deliverance and protection of God

Psalm 91:9-16 “Because you have made the Lord—my refuge, the Most High—your dwelling place, no harm will come to you; no plague will come near your tent. For he will give his angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways. They will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the young lion and the serpent. Because he has his heart set on me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls out to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor. I will satisfy him with a long life and show him my salvation.”

The faithfulness of God

Psalm 94:14-15 “The Lord will not leave his people or abandon his heritage, for the administration of justice will again be righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.”