He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. Psalm 25:9 (NIV)
Questions and Answers – The Believe Series – Part 3
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7
My kids are at the age where they’re asking LOTS of questions. Things like:
Why is the sky blue?
Why is the grass green?
Why do I have to brush my teeth?
Why do I have to go to sleep?
Why do I have to eat broccoli?
Where do babies come from?
Why do I have to wash my hands after the toilet?
Whose gonna die first, you or Daddy?
So. Many. Questions.
Most of my directives to them are met with:
Why?
Why?
Why?
Questions, and doubts, are a kind of humility. To genuinely question something is to say that you don’t know all the answers and you’re seeking wisdom.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks says that “Jewish physicist Isidore Rabi once explained that his mother taught him how to be a scientist. ‘Every other child would come back from school and be asked, “What did you learn today?” But my mother used to ask, instead, “Izzy, did you ask a good question today?” [AND] In Judaism, to be without questions is not a sign of faith, but of lack of depth. ‘As for the child who does not know how to ask, you must begin to teach him how.‘”(askbigquestions.org/blog/201301/art-asking-questions.)
As I said yesterday, I grew up with a “here’s the truth on a platter for the rest of your life” kind of faith. But as I started to experience different things, and meet different people, the faith I inherited on my “platter” left me wanting and frustrated.
I began to ask questions. And I’m not alone.
Abraham asked, “Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?”
Moses asked, “O Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people?”
Jeremiah said, “You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before You, yet I would speak with You about Your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?”
The book of Job, the most searching of all explorations of human suffering, is a book of questions asked by man, to which God replies with four chapters of questions of His own.
Rabbi Sacks goes on to say, “Faith is not opposed to questions, but it is opposed to the shallow certainty that what we understand is all there is.”
I’m not talking about belligerent, arrogant, moronic, for the sake of it questions. But those soul-deep doubts, the humble hunger that arises from living in the world and engaging with the creator of the universe.
I have some questions, and I bet if you think about it, you do too. But they’re not arrogant. I ask because I seek truth; I ask so that I can learn that I’m not alone in my asking; I ask so that I’m not just a mindless robot etching out an dictated existence.
Why do children die?
Why do some go hungry and some have an abundance?
Why does the greedy man gain more and the honest one die of cancer?
Why does power corrupt?
I had faith and prayed, but my wife still left me?
If God is in all things and through all things, can he be in a suicide bomber?
Does God love Hitler?
If God is for me, why do I struggle to pay my bills and feed my children?
Does God really want me to love my enemy?
Questions bring a kind of freedom: I don’t have to all the answers, I don’t have to have it all figured out, and I don’t have to pretend to know it all. I can let God, be God.
The art of questioning is something that I fear we are losing. It’s no wonder that Jesus said, “Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable, and learn about heaven’s kingdom realm with the wide-eyed wonder of a child, you will never be able to enter in.” (Matt 18:3).
Kids have an insatiable curiosity for truth. They question everything. Not because they’re being obnoxious (well…), or they’re trying to be annoyingly infuriating, but because they want to learn. They want to understand. They want to know the truth.
They ask questions because they believe that the answer is out there, somewhere. They’re humble in their smallness yet bold in ‘drawing near.' God “teaches the humble his way.” Ps 25:9.
Ask any great questions today?
Are you afraid of asking questions for what they might uncover? Leave us a comment below.
Go to Part 4 – Truth Is »
[vcex_image_grid columns=”3″ pagination=”false” thumbnail_link=”custom_link” link_title_tag=”true” custom_links_target=”_blank” overlay_style=”title-category-visible” columns_gap=”5″ img_hover_style=”fade-out” image_ids=”20934,20935,20937″ custom_links=”https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1239768002?pt=118656308&ct=blog%20footer&mt=8,https://www.pktfuel.com/dailyemail,https://www.pktfuel.com/support” img_height=”350″]