When I was a little girl and questions were a large part of my day I would ask my mother a questions and she would respond {in rather a smart-aleck tone}: “Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.” Profound. I know. {rolling my eyes} It didn’t take me long to figure out, when she answered thus, there would either be no answer from her to my question or the answer was “no”.
I didn’t get many answers from her that I could use; however, I did get quite a few examples of what not to say and, I suppose, from her actions I saw many answers to my questions that she gave without realizing.
I hadn’t thought about that quote for some time until the past couple of weeks. I’ve been pondering questions and answers since my Bible Study leader made this statement:
“God is not afraid of our questions but we may be afraid of His answers.”
And then, this week in my notes on the lesson came this gem:
“Pressure from changes and threats in personal life or the world around them make people look for answers.”
That quote came on the heels of this verse:
“Watch out that no one deceives you.” Matthew 24:4.
The wheels started turning just about then and I began to think about what it is I question and who I ask for the answers. My mother is no longer around to “not” answer my questions. I am no longer a child who asks those childish questions either. Somewhere in the middle, between my child’s mind full of questions and my mother’s non-answers, lies the “answers” to questions I still have.
I realized as I began to grow up that I had to ask questions of myself. First the basics: What? Why? How? Where? When? Who? And then more complex questions that brought me back to the basics. And most of the time I didn’t get the answer. Because I didn’t have the answer and no one else did either. Like being on a merry-go-round.
I came to the conclusion that I can take all my questions to God. He has the answers to all of my questions.
“Oh, but, You don’t want to bother Him with that…(insert any subject here). He doesn’t want all of your questions. It’s impertinent to ask God questions”.
So you say.
Pardon me, but He does want me to ask questions and keep asking! If I choose to seek Him and to look for the wisdom that is there in His Word I will get the right answer at the right time.
No, I’m not talking about answers to the next physics question in the book or what’s on TV tonight. It’s really much bigger and better than we could imagine.
’Aha‘ moments abound.
Answers to what really matters. Like: Who is God? Who am I? Why Jesus? What does He want from me, really? Who can I trust? What am I supposed to do with my life? How do I know whether it’s true, right or correct?
All these answers and more He will answer. Simplistic? No. Just Simple. We tend to make things hard on ourselves, don’t we?
‘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; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 6:7-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15
How about your questions? where do you find answers?