Hope in the midst of dark days

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.