Trusting God through Your Own Questions
How does faith look when we're going through a season of questions? How does faith look when we don't know what is going on in our lives? This week we talk about trusting God even when we do not understand.
FAITH
Dani FIelder
9/15/20264 min read
If I'm being honest, I'm at a point in my life where I am expecting a lot to change very quickly. This scares me, and it has me questioning so much. Where am I going in my career? What is my purpose in this season? How can I contribute to the people around me? How can I become the woman of God I feel I need to be? These questions often plague my mind and send me into an anxious sweat because I am simply overwhelmed by my thoughts. So when I find myself in times like this, I then also ask: What does the Bible say about these periods in my life when I feel overwhelmed and feel I am getting no answers from God?
Recently, I was studying the book of Job, and anyone who is a pretty seasoned church-goer or Christian understands that Job is quite a heavy book. The book follows the story of a man named Job. Job is wealthy, has a beautiful family, and lots of possessions and servants. One day, however, Job loses everything. His servants are killed, his possessions taken, and his children all die in one fatal party. Then, Job becomes ill with painful sores all over his body. In a short period of time, Job seemed to have lost everything. His own wife even asked, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!" (Job 2:9, NIV). This is pretty intense!
As the reader, we understand from chapters one and two that Job endures these hardships because it is what God allowed, but from Job's perspective, he does not understand. He has many questions. Job asks God, "20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? 21 Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins?" (Job 7:20-21, NIV).
Something I appreciated from reading Job is the vast amount of questioning. I appreciate that we serve a God who accepts our questions. This does not mean we should not have faith that God is still who he promises himself to be, but it is okay to not understand everything.
When God finally does answer after Job goes through a long, grueling back-and-forth conversation with his friends, God explains to Job that some things are just beyond our understanding. God questions Job, asking, "2 Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 4 'Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?'" (Job 38:2-5, NIV). These are all questions that illustrate God's majesty over creation. These are only questions that God himself can answer. This shows how Job lacked true knowledge. In the bitterness of his pain and discomfort, he expressed rage and assumed God was angry with him. Job's problem, however, was his ignorance. He did not comprehend the complexity of God and the world he created.
"'13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork. 14 She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, 15 unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. 16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain, 17 for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. 18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider" (Job 39:13-18, NIV).
Ultimately, there are many things that are unexplainable for man. Job later says, "3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know" (Job 42:3, NIV). In the end, the Lord restored to Job all he lost and gave him twice as much as he had before because Job trusted God (Job 42:10).
So, while God welcomes our questions, we are still expected to trust him and remain obedient. In times when I feel I am questioning what is happening in my life, I hold on a little tighter to God. I say that to say that I just rely on and trust in him more. In the first chapter of Job, after all he had was gone, Job says, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised" (Job 1:21, NIV). This is a necessary reminder that God is the provider of all that we receive. He is the reason we have what we need. When times seem more uncertain, and you keep asking for answers but it does not seem as though God is answering, understand that he hears you. God loves us, and he sees us. He understands our questions. He understands our hardships. Sometimes the very thing making us ask the questions is the thing God uses to propel us closer to Him. He has his sovereign will, but we may not always understand everything that is going on when we go through it; we just continue to trust him regardless.