Questions for God
Recently we asked our Reader Rewards members: If you could ask God one question, what would it be? We received hundreds of responses, ranging from curious and whimsical to painfully practical and even heartbreaking. Many of the questions were the same, often revolving around themes such as:
What is the meaning of life? What is my life’s purpose? What is God’s will for me?
Why do bad things happens to good people? Why does suffering/cancer/coronavirus exist? Why is life so hard?
How can I be sure I’m going to heaven? What happens after we die? Will I see my loved ones again?
Other questions that were less heavy but just as thoughtful included How can I rest in you day-by-day? How do you love us so unconditionally? Why did you create the world? And some questions carried a hint of humor, such as Why not just a couple more hours in the day? and Why did you create mosquitoes?
From the serious to the slightly tongue-in-cheek, we all have questions for God. But when he rarely gives us direct answers, how can we learn to live with these questions?
While God has given us a great gift in the Holy Scriptures—words of such depth, we could never exhaust their meaning if we spent our entire lives studying them!—the Bible doesn’t provide all the answers to the questions many of us want to ask God. How much can we know, and how many unanswered questions do we have to live with . . . especially the ones that are so personal and even painful?
Maybe we need to reframe how we understand our questions. What if their purpose is not to give us neatly packaged, cut-and-dried answers, but to draw us deeper into mystery—the mystery of our faith, of who God is and who we are in relation to him? Are our questions drawing us closer to God or pushing us further away?
As much as we desire neatly prepared answers, knowledge alone won’t heal our ache or satisfy our longing. Ann Voskamp puts it this way in The Greatest Gift: “Instead of explaining our suffering, Jesus shares in it—because He knows mere answers are cold and His arms are warm.” Kellye Fabian, author of Sacred Questions, describes her practice of reading Scripture, asking and “sitting with those questions in God’s presence, not as a way to receive answers but as a way to be changed.”
You’ve probably guessed by now that the purpose of this blog post is not to provide you with answers (though we wish we could!), but to encourage you on your journey to discovering what purpose God has for you through the questions you’re asking.
Most importantly, remember that you’re not alone in your questions! If you’re looking for additional resources to help you on your journey, take a look at these books:
God’s Little Book of Answers to Big Questions provides a quick and easy way to find answers to 150 big and challenging questions that believers and unbelievers alike want to ask—such as “Why does God allow suffering?” Every question comes with an answer from the Bible, a short devotional reading to add context, and a promise from God.
Sacred Questions invites readers into a daily personal practice of reading Scripture and responding to questions arising from the text about God, themselves, and others . . . One day at a time, readers learn how to partner with God in their transformation into Christlikeness and live the full, free, and others-centered life Jesus offers.
365 Questions for a Woman’s Soul asks the deep questions for which our souls long for answers. Some of these questions can be clearly answered from the pages of Scripture. Other questions do not have tidy answers, but by wrestling with them in relationship with God’s Word, we can gain perspective, wisdom, and a better understanding of who God is and why he allows events to unfold as they do.
We all have questions about what heaven will be like.
Fortunately, Scripture is filled with helpful information about our future home—we just have to know where to look. Dr. David Jeremiah has spent a lifetime studying what the Bible has to say about heaven, and now in Answers to Your Questions about Heaven, he has done just that—provided answers to your most pressing questions about heaven, angels, and eternity in a straightforward, easy-to-understand, biblically based book.
In Now That’s a Good Question, R.C. Sproul answers more than 300 challenging questions about life and faith . . . New believers as well as those mature in the faith will find this book a solid resource for those challenging questions of life and faith.
Kids have questions, too! The Big Book of Bible Questions
addresses kids’ toughest Bible questions with theologically sound answers in a way that is relatable and engaging . . . With eye-catching illustrations and real-life photos, this book will not only answer a kid’s Bible questions big and small, but it will also encourage spiritual conversations and a lifelong love of learning about the glory and wonder of faith, the Bible, and God.