Have you ever had one of those days where you just sit back
and wonder why? You ask God what is he
doing? Nothing makes sense and things are not looking good for the future. We
are in one of those cycles today. Last night, we heard of the passing of a dear
sweet lady in our Kentucky church. She was fighting something but they could
not figure out what it was. Then as a complete surprise, she was gone. Then we
woke up this morning hearing about an active shooter incident up in Fargo where
the shooter and a police officer are dead.
While I am not saying that these are related or are out of
the ordinary, they do make you stop and think…and question God. One may ask if
a Christian should question God. My response is that Paul writes in 1 Cor 13:12
that we see “in a mirror dimly” (ESV) or “like a cloudy picture in a mirror”
(CEV) in talking about how we see God and his purposes. We do not see the full
picture and we won’t until we see him face to face. So because of that lack of
a clear picture, it is okay for Christians to question God.
I have been reading though a devotional book by Tim Keller
called The Songs of Jesus which goes
through the Psalms. There are many Psalms that question God; songs that were
written with raw emotions to the point of being angry with God. Even those
Psalms have a note of respect and deference to the Almighty God. It is okay to
question God but we also need to remember our place. We have a limited
perspective on matters but God’s is eternal. Sometimes, though, that is not
enough. What do we do then?
Today’s chapter in that devotional focused on Psalm 24:1-6:
The earth is the Lord’s
and the fullness thereof, the world
and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who
shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to
what is false and does
not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of
Jacob.
This passage is talking about who can be intimate with God? “His
Holy Place” was God’s “room” here on earth. He is asking us to come close to
him and to talk, even argue with him with the purpose to get to know him better
and to get a better picture of his character. What is keeping us from that
intimacy? We need “clean hands and a pure heart”. It is a journey to
continually keep coming into God’s presence, asking questions, and receiving
God’s love as an answer.
Should we question God? Particularly when bad things happen
that we do not understand, yes we should. As this passage tells us, we need to
pursue God in those times “with clean hands and a pure heart”. We may not get all
of the answers that we are looking for but verse 5 says “He will receive blessing
from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
It is in difficult times that we need the strength from
others and from God himself. Let us echo the father of the son with the unclean
spirit in Mark 9 when he says “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
Yes, let’s question God but let these circumstances draw us closer to God so we
can know Him better.
