(by Lorie Codispoti)
Is it okay to question God?
In a recent conversation, a woman told me that she never questions God, inferring that it would be wrong to do so. I was immediately reminded of all the times I’ve questioned Him, especially in the last four & a half years.
Hmm. What does that say? Was this woman correct in her assumption that it is sinful for us to question the Creator about the things that concern us?
Her religious background played heavily into her statement. She was taught that God has His reasons for doing what He does & you should never ask why. It took some time to explain - that while there is a right & wrong way to question God - we are given both permission & invited to bring our questions to Him.
When we were raising our children, we encouraged them to come to us with any & all questions. We wanted them to ask questions. While I know we could have done a better job with our answers, that was not our motivation. We were building something that we knew would last well beyond their childrearing years - a relationship. That’s what our Heavenly Father is doing when He invites us to come & “cast all our cares” & “pour out our heart to Him.” I don’t think it’s possible to do this without questions being part of our dialog.
Does questioning mean we are full of fear, doubt, & unbelief?
Yes, but those are the very emotions that should compel us to go into the King’s throne room to begin with. You don’t think that Ester went into the throne room dancing a confident jig, do you? No! She likely wore every one of these emotions as she approached a king who could easily call for her head to be separated from her body.
“Those who trust God most are those whose faith permits them to risk wrestling with Him over the deepest questions of life.” (Dan Allender)
Many of us grew up thinking that fear, doubt, & unbelief were things we needed to deny if we wanted to have a genuine faith, but this is not the litmus test for faith.
Scripture is filled with godly people who took their fears, doubts, & unbelief TO God - indicating their faith in Him - when they questioned Him.
Some of them were pretty audacious about it too:
Moses - “Why have you dealt ill with your servant?” (Num. 11:11)
David - “Oh Lord why do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psa. 10:1)
Habbakuk - “Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?” (Hab. 1:3)
Job - “Why have you made me your target?” (Job 7:20)
Even Jesus asked God “Why…” (Mtt.27:46)
I recently heard someone say that questions are the beginning of a finished testimony. Questioning God, especially during times of great sorrow, is one of the very things He uses to draw our hearts to Himself. He’s adding to the testimony that we will proclaim forever.
The person who seeks to understand their circumstance by drawing near to God & questioning Him - with all their fear, doubt, & unbelief in tow - is the person God wants to build a lasting relationship with.
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