Don’t Be Afraid to Ask the Hard Questions Right Now

People of faith are not the people who are always fine.

People of faith are not the ones who only experience happiness, peace, and calm in the midst of great trials.

People of faith are the ones with so much trust in God, they aren’t afraid to ask Him their hardest questions when trials press in and threaten to destroy them.

People of faith are wrestlers, refusing to let God go until they are sure He hears them, stands with them, assures them of the truth.

We know this because He recorded in Scripture the moments that great men and women of faith “lost it.”

The prophet Habakkuk: “God, how long do I have to cry out for help before you listen? How many times do I have to yell, ‘Help! Murder! Police!’ before you come to the rescue? Why do you force me to look at evil, stare trouble in the face day after day? Anarchy and violence break out, quarrels and fights all over the place. Law and order fall to pieces. Justice is a joke. The wicked have the righteous hamstrung and stand justice on its head.” Habakkuk 1:1-4 The Message

Moses: “Moses said to God, “Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me? Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, ‘Give us meat; we want meat.’ I can’t do this by myself—it’s too much, all these people. If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I’ve seen enough; I’ve had enough. Let me out of here.” Numbers 11:11-15 The Message

Jeremiah: “Why, oh why, did I ever leave that womb? Life’s been nothing but trouble and tears, and what’s coming is more of the same.” Jeremiah 20:18 The Message

Elijah: “When Elijah saw how things were, he ran for dear life to Beersheba, far in the south of Judah. He left his young servant there and then went on into the desert another day’s journey. He came to a lone broom bush and collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way to be done with it all—to just die: “Enough of this, God! Take my life—I’m ready to join my ancestors in the grave!” Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush.” 1 Kings 19:3-5 The Message

During this global pandemic, we want to be voices of faith, courage, hope, and vision when we interact with others and this is right and good.

But there are other moments, aren’t there? It’s okay, I have them too. We all do.

Darker moments when we are overwhelmed, fearful, angry, lonely, despairing, or worse. Moments when we ache for our loved ones. Hours when we wonder if God even hears our prayers. Times when we think we don’t want to face whatever comes next or can’t imagine we’ll have the strength to bear it – loss of loved ones, financial ruin, global outrage, starting over. Long moments when we start to doubt.

It’s okay. This doesn’t make us faithless people – it makes us humans facing historically frightening times.

When the preacher, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was imprisoned by the Nazi’s, he struggled and captured his struggle in the poem, “Who Am I.”  Times of worldwide crisis drive us to ask the greater questions.

Don’t be afraid to ask them. Fear of asking these questions smothers the life from our prayers. It puts a chokehold on our relationship with God. It paralyzes our souls.

God welcomes us to Him with everything we bring – anger, fear, doubt, and panic along with praise, faith, love, and trust. He embraces us wholly in the name of Jesus.

If we don’t bring Him our great questions, they will knock our legs out from under our faith. Bringing our questions into His light reduces them from the fearful size they mimic in the dark. The shadows of our questions, looming over us, are worse than the truth we find when we cry them out to God in the night.

All people of great faith have stories to tell of falling on their faces before God awash in questions that threatened to rip apart their souls. They rose from those moments – usually not with all the answers – but with God.

There are great answers. Our faith is a reasonable faith. Great thinkers and men and women of intellect enrich our faith with their understanding. Wisdom cries out in the streets and can be found in a relationship with Jesus. People of faith ask questions all the time.

Questions drive us to the feet of God and when we follow them to Him, we find that we didn’t just need answers, we also needed Him. And He is there. And we are settled. And our faith is fortified. And we can move forward into another day.

Asking God your biggest questions is an act of faith – don’t be afraid of the answers, because they are found in Him.

There are reliable supports for these questions – if you know of others, please leave them in the comments but here are a few:

Difficult questions – Thoughtful Answers 

Gospel in Life

Jews for Jesus

Don't Be Afraid to Ask the Hard Questions Right Now https://t.co/N1WnV7YyZY #COVID2019 #Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 4, 2020