Are You Asking Hard Enough Questions?

The scriptures capture snapshots, time and time again, of ordinary people being very vulnerable with God by asking their deepest, most painful, most hopeful questions. It can actually feel very disorienting to be that honest with God, and yet all throughout scripture people are just that honest. The ones who end up feeling close to God - and the ones called ‘God’s friend’ and ‘a man after God’s own heart’ - are the ones who do the hard work of putting their pain, their hope, and their curiosity into words and bring those words to God.

Today, take some time to listen to these questions asked by people in the Bible. Do some resonate with you? Do some embarrass you? Do you wish you had the courage to ask some? Is there a chance, as you read them, that you are beginning to realize that you’re not asking hard enough questions of God?

• "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" David asking God (Ps 22:1)

• "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus asking God (Mark 15:34)

• "How long will you hide your face from me?" David asking God (Ps 13:1)

• "Whom have you ever treated like this?"  Jeremiah asking God (Lamentations 2:20)

• "Lord, will thou slay an innocent people?" Abimelech asking God (Genesis 20:4)

• "Why do you tolerate wrong?" Habakkuk to God (Habakkuk 1:3)

• "Why is life given to a man, whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?" Job to God (Job 3:23)

• “What are our other options?” Peter to Jesus (John 6:68)

• "What do I still lack?" a young, wealthy leader to Jesus (Matthew 19:20)