They kept asking, “What does He mean by �?a little while�? We don’t understand what He is saying.�? John 16:18

December 11, 2007 Floyd Ray Gage

Some questions and issues just seem to continue to hound us continually. We seek for an answer and can’t seem to find it. We try to ignore it and it just won’t go away. We try to downplay its importance and it just continues to rise to the top of our concerns.

For each one of us this may be a different question or concern that seems to latch on to our hearts and minds and won’t let go. Some issues are fairly common in this area: What is my purpose?; Where do I go from here?; What can I do for this person to help them?; How can I rejuvenate my faith? Where do we go from here as a church or a family?; What am I going to do about my child, spouse, mom, or dad? How can I find meaning apart from my job or apart from this person?

There are many more. These are just a sampling. Questions like these are the issues we struggle with and wrestle against our whole life. When we think we have found an answer, it slips through our fingers and seems to become even more elusive. This is where the disciples were with the Lord.

Questions about God and why He is doing certain things can be the toughest for us to deal with and understand. Just when we think we have God figured out, He goes and does something that just doesn’t seem to fit with our preconceived ideas and notions about Him. Just when we think we have boxed Him in, He goes and does something that is totally contrary to what we expect or want.

This happened to Paul on the Road to Damascus. It happened to Jonah on the ship running from God. It happened to David after his sin with Bathsheba and the killing of her husband. It happened to Peter before he went to witness to Cornelius. We have instance after instance of those that thought they had God figured out and then came to find that He was operating in different ways than they had expected. The most glaring example of this was the Pharisees and Sadducees and their understanding of Jesus and God’s plan.

The key to all of this is not in the questions or even in the answers but what our response to the questions and difficulty in finding the answers is. Some allow the doubts over the lack of answers to drive them away from God. This causes them and their families hardships and difficulties and it shuts down their spiritual life. It also causes God to have to resort to some pretty drastic measures, I.e Jonah and the whale.

Others become complacent and basically become stagnant in their spiritual walk. They still love God and serve Him to some degree, but they feel that if they can’t find the answer to certain questions then they might as well just stay with the status quo and not worry about doing anything above and beyond. Fear starts to rule their lives and they will not take any chances for the Lord. Their trust in God is shortened to only what their eyes can see and the reach of their hands.

Some allow the questions and the lack of answers to drive them closer to God. They lay hold of the hem of the Lord’s garment and they won’t let go. David did this and it is why his Psalms move our hearts even today. It is also why David could mess up so royally (pun intended) and still be called a man after God’s own heart.

Again it is not the questions that really matter nor the answers. It is what the questions and lack of answers causes us to do. Are we pushing closer to God in Christ, because of our lack of answers or are we inching farther and farther away from the Lord? All our questions will not be answered until heaven, but we can still exercise faith today!