Questioning God

In our search, we will wonder and question.

Have you ever questioned God? I’m sure we all have. From the little seemingly insignificant things to weird questions to very tough questions. Our questions come from wonder and from high points in life and they come from tough situations and extremely difficult situations.

In our search for God, we will question. We will ask. We will wonder about things. We may even…in our search…demand an answer. And guess what? I think that’s perfectly ok.

So last week we talked about searching for God but…really in then end…realizing that all the time He’s been showing Himself to us…revealing Himself to us in different ways.

We have scripture that talks about Him. We have nature that reveals His creativity and thought. We have those moments when we might say…He gives us personal insight or a personal answer in different ways…those times when you can say without a doubt you know God did something for you…maybe through something someone said or an event that just …you know…those moments when you say that cannot be a coincidence.

But again in our search…as we look for God, read about Him, learn about Him, see Him in things around us…I think it is easy then to ask questions either from the point of view of “what were you thinking?” when you look at a platypus....or a three toed sloth… Any of you look at nature and just say…God…that’s weird. Like right now we have news that in our area here, we might experience …a possible lighter version of what southern Ohio might experience…but nonetheless we might see some of those 17 year cycadia…or as some in our parts call locusts. The news out of Columbus is that they will experience these things by the millions. Loud in the evenings.... Once every 17 years. And then back into the ground. Weird....right?

The northern lights. Wonderful but very weird…and even though they can be explained scientifically…they still seem other-earthly.

We question…We ask why? And How?

And then there are those good things that happen in life …those unexpected things when we’re sometimes caught offguard by God and we wonder…why would you do that for me? That’s so cool! Almost questioning from a point of being humble. Like when King David writes …why would you take notice of me?

David writes in Psalm 8…When I look at everytying in creation and how big the sky is and everthing in it…why would you even care to look for…let alone care for people? Why?

David wondered about God. Questioned Him.

I believe that it is our nature to question God. To think about Him. To ask why. To struggle with what our limited understanding is. To struggle with what we see and what we know we can’t see. To be amused by it and even to be frightened by it. To want to look more into it…and at times to ask but hope we don’t get and answer.

John Stott wrote this - Man is an insatiably inquisitive creature. His mind is so made that it cannot rest. It is always prying into the unknown. He pursues knowledge with restless energy. His life is a voyage of discovery. He is always questing, exploring, investigating, researching. He never grows out of the child’s interminable “Why?”

When man’s mind begins to concern itself with God, however, it is baffled. It gropes in the dark. It flounders helplessly out of its depth. But this is not surprising, because God, whatever or whoever he may be, is infinite, while we are finite creatures. He is altogether beyond our comprehension. Therefore our minds, though wonderfully effective instruments in the empirical sciences, cannot immediately help us here. They cannot climb up into the infinite mind of God. There is no ladder, only a vast, unmeasured gulf. “Can you find out the deep things of God?” Job was asked. It is impossible.

How does a little child begin to learn about his or her surroundings, their family, nature, how things work,....they begin to ask....Why? We are no different. It is ok to ask God questions…even hard questions....even questions that we know we might not receive any answer for…or asking questions that we know we’re going to get an answer that will not agree with us. It is ok.....to ask....but don’t get stuck with or in the question...

I think asking a question presumes some things about us. I think that it doesn’t only show that we’re inquisitive. Asking God a question presumes that He is there…listening. Even if we’re skeptical, we’re taking the chance that someone’s on the other end of that telephone line listening in. I think asking God a question shows that we’re humble enough to admit we don’t have all the answers…its not below us to ask…to show that we’re possibly in need of something bigger than ourselves. Asking God a question shows that you are interested in this thing called life…that you recognize the struggle of life…that you’re not just floating through. Asking questions to God shows that we are interested in acquiring knowledge…maybe even information that will change the way we think or believe. Asking questions is actually a first step in this thing that God calls us to…change - change towards becoming more and more like the person we were created to be…in His image.

If we think about the tougher questions usually they’ll be along the lines of...

Why God…I’ve planned for this but this happened. This was my dream but now that’s gone...

Why God…do these things happen to children? You can fill in the blanks with the questions you’ve probably wondered before right?

Why God does it seem that good things are happening to people who don’t believe in you…and then why bad things happen to people who do believe.

Why God do you allow evil to just go on and on and on....?

Why God would you let me be like that for so long…?

Why did this or that happen to me??

Reasonable questions? Yes. Absolutely. They are questions of life. And they are directed to the author of life. I think if we’re searching…truly searching for God - to not just know about Him but to truly know Him as a friend…to know His heart…we’re going to be driven to ask the hardest of questions…maybe even out of our own emotion.

All…of those along with why in the world a platypus....

There’s an author that we have in the Bible. His name is Habakkuk. He struggled with life as he saw it. He specifically struggled with the life of the Hebrew people…God’s people.

His book is only 3 chapters long. I encourage you to read it. He’s considered a minor prophet…not because he wasn’t a major prophet…that title only is there because his book…or message from God is a small letter…but not insignificant at all.

Yes…Habakkuk is a prophet of God. And we can date him through the history that he alludes to in His writings. Possibly around 610BC or so.

Judah…God’s people at that time…they are not obeying God. They have not kept God as the center of their worship. They have not kept God as the center of their lives.

[Read through Habakkuk]

Was Habakkuk upset? Yes. Was He confused? Yes. Did it seem He was at the end of his wits…last nerve…the biggest questions were coming out…almost condemning God and demanding an answer.

Did God understand this prophet’s emotion and limited understanding? Yes. Was He going to give Him all the answers? No…but enough to still stand…and still search for God…and enough to still trust God.

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Habakkuk 1:1 O Yahweh, how long shall I cry for help

and you will not listen?

How long will I cry out to you, “Violence!”

and you will not save?

3 Why do you cause me to see evil

while you look at trouble?

Destruction and violence happen before me;

contention and strife arise.

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The Lexham English Bible Chapter 1

Look among the nations and see;

be astonished and astounded.

For a work is about to be done in your days

that you will not believe if it is told.

6 For look! I am raising up the Chaldeans,

the bitter and impetuous nation,

the one who walks through the spacious places of earth

to take possession of dwellings not belonging to it.

7 They are dreadful and awesome;

their justice and their dignity proceed from themselves.

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 1

And they themselves scoff at kings

and rulers are a joke to them.

They laugh at every fortification,

and they heap up earth and take it.

11 Then they sweep like the wind and pass on;

they become guilty, whose might is their god!”

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 1

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

12 Are you not from of old,

O Yahweh my God, my Holy One?

You shall not die.

O Yahweh, you have marked them for judgment;

O Rock, you have established them for reproof.

13 Your eyes are too pure to see evil,

and you are not able to look at wrongdoing.

Why do you look at the treacherous?

Why are you silent when the wicked swallows up

someone more righteous than him?

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 2

I will stand at my post,

and station myself on the rampart.

And I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,

and what he will answer concerning my complaint.

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 2

Then Yahweh answered me and said,

“Write the vision and make it plain on the tablet

so that ⌊it might be read quickly⌋.

3 For there is yet a vision for the appointed time;

it will give witness to the end, and it will not lie.

If it tarries, wait for it,

for it will surely come and not delay.

4 Look! His spirit within him is puffed up;

it is not upright.

But the righteous shall live by his faithfulness.

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 2

Woe to him who obtains profit from evil

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 2

For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh,

like the waters covering the sea.

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 2

But Yahweh is in his holy temple.

Let all the earth be silent before him.”

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 3

O Yahweh, I have heard the report of you;

O Yahweh, I stand in awe of your works.

In the midst of the years, revive it!

In the midst of the years, make it known!

In wrath, may you remember to show compassion.

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 3

Though the fig tree does not blossom,

nor there be fruit on the vines;

the yield of the olive tree fails,

and the cultivated fields do not yield food;

the flock is cut off from the animal pen,

and there is no cattle in the stalls,

18 Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh;

I will exult in the God of my salvation.

19 Yahweh, my Lord, is my strength;

David often wrote…I put a couple references in the notes…David often wrote things like…Why God don’t you show yourself? Why do you not answer me? Please give me answers.

Job....remember where God started with Job....He is a righteous man…He lives by faith in what he knows to be true. He doesn’t know everything…but He knows that I’m real....

Then Job goes off…why??? Why???? Then it is as if God is looking down…overlooking Job…who is this who darkens my counsel?…as though he can’t see Job....or as if Job is able to hide from Him....and then He asks Job some questions…

Think about this…Job is talking with God…God is responding. There is a conversation…not what Job was looking for…no answers…but does Job lose His faith? No…in fact it seems as though through being humble His faith is strengthened.

Now, this is like the world turned upside down. This is a paradox. Humility leads to strength? None answers lead to trust?

All Job…and Habakkuk ....and David.... Mary (Jesus’ mom) when told the plan of her having the baby she basically says…I don’t know why....but I’m your servant.

Mother Theresa…if you’re not familiar with Mother Theresa…she was a believer in Christ who gave her whole life to serving God and others. The poorest of poor were her focus. She served those who society gave up on in Calcutta, India. For most of her life she was either serving or organizing others to serve with her. She was a person of incredible faith in God. But in her memoirs, we find there were times when she wrestled with God. Asking if He really existed. Using logic and reason…to work through emotions and exhaustion and confusion. She remembers being asked by Jesus to be His light to people who the world had forgotten. But she often felt that He wasn’t close to her. She wrote of this darkness that she often felt around her. But in spite of this…she kept going with what she knew to be true. Even though she could question God....she knew He was there to be questioned. Even though she didn’t quite understand Jesus’ day to day plan…she knew He was real…what He did for her and for humanity was real…and that was enough. Was it sometimes dark? Yes. Could He walk her through it…maybe even carry her through it? Yes.

How about you? Ever wish to know all the why’s?

I believe Paul gives us a bit of a description from His own life. If you read through the book of Acts…kind of a history or the birth and explosion type of growth of church just after Jesus rose from the dead, you’ll find that Paul is moving through lots of change in his own life. His path, his goal, was to stop Christianity by any means possible. You can use your imagination there.

But when Jesus got ahold of his life, and Paul was willing to allow Jesus to begin to recreate Paul into the person he was always meant to be, Paul found a bit of the full life that Jesus often talked about.

But …was it perfect…from our standards? No. Paul was occasionally ill. Paul was chased down. Beaten many times. Wrongly accused. Thrown in prison. Spent time in court before judges and rulers…defending himself. And those times came in between really good times when he was able to watch people make decisions for Jesus…allow their lives to be changed by Him. He saw some great things....and experienced some horrible things as well.

What does Paul say about life on this side of eternity? This life that is full of questions?

1 Corinthians 13:12 records some of his words, “For now we see through a mirror …poorly ⌊indirectly⌋, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know completely, just as I have also been completely known.

The greek words that Paul uses are very precise to what he is trying to say. He’s saying that life right now…we try to see what God is doing…and doing in us. But it is as if we’re looking into a mirror and we see an enigma. Enigma is the precise word Paul uses. When we look at ourselves in this life…we look in a mirror to see what God might be doing in us…as we were made in His image…but we can see Him…we have questions....we’re puzzled by what we see…often its only our reflection and we cant see God’s image in us or in our lives. But....and here’s where Paul simply makes a claim…and if you read enough of Paul His claim is based on one truth…Jesus rose from the dead…and if that really happened…then one day we will see that image of God when we look in a mirror. We will see God and His ways and His plan and His reasons …clearly. God knows us completely and one day we will know God the same…the enigma and the questions will be taken away. We’ll be face to face with our creator…like he’s wanted it to be all this time.

Don’t stop asking questions. But when there’s no answer or there’s a pause…or there’s information that you don’t understand or can’t make sense of…rest in the things you do know. God is good…all the time…and all the time....God is good.

That saying originated in churches in Africa. And they had an added line that we’ve left off.....then ending is “And we are witnesses.” Before thats just a statement about God....adding that last part puts us in the story right?

The world is asking these same questions you and I ask. And many times…they have nothing to claim or hold to …and their lack of faith or lack of understanding anything about God and truth leads

them to disbelieve everything. We might call some of them either atheists or agnostics. Many of them see world, its struggles, its injustices, and just respond with a, “See....that’s why I could never believe in a God.” But it very well might be our personal story with our creator that gives them some bits and pieces to hold onto.

Do we have all the answers? No…but can we plant a seed here or there? Yes. Can we shine some light in dark places? Yes. Can we ask counter questions to keep them thinking and asking and searching? Yes. Is this about us being right? No…we don’t have all the answers…but we know the one who does. It’s about helping someone take one step closer…maybe even reluctantly…with hard questions in their hand…its still a step.

I think we all want to help people, to serve people and to get closer to God. I think we want to help be the change in this community…in our neighborhood.

Right now, as we’re restarting as a church, we have a few things in place that help us learn and worship and remember together…We have Sunday morning gatherings…this…we have a group or two or three studying and learning together. We have some age specific things going on for kids and teens.

So as we move forward as a family, we’ll need to do this as a family. Dream with me just a bit…wouldn’t you love to see a nursery…where our littlest ones are loved for the time that we’re here together? How about a growing children’s time where kids learn and have fun with God, each other, and some adults that want to share life with them? Would you love to see that grown? Yeah me too. As we keep growing out from what we currently have, we’ll need some people. I think this is all our dream…a growing church family. Not just so we have more numbers…but so that we can see more people searching for God right? And finding what He has in life for them.

I encourage you to pray about becoming involved once or twice a month with our kids. This is the way we will move forward. No guilt…that’s not how we approach things around here. If God wants you to serve…He’ll let you know. I’m confident of that.

We can do this together with God can’t we. Pray…search…learn....ask questions…ask the hard ones…Keep nudging yourself towards a deeper relationship with God…and bring someone along with you.

Speaking of that…As we begin to move forward now…out of this covid situation…and we will …maybe slower than we expect…but still moving forward amen?! As we do I want to you to begin to think about that one person you’d like to see here with you. Or that one neighbor you’d like to get to know better. Just begin to think of them more. Pray for them.

In times to come, as we’re able, we’re going to begin to do some things that you can invite people to....to maybe just enjoy each other’s company or to serve together.

God will grow us…that’s what He does.