The Hard Questions
Is faith in Jesus Christ rational? Is the Bible truly God’s words? Can those words and physical science agree? If God can do anything, why does bad stuff happen to innocents? Are miracles real? Are angels real? Do heaven and hell exist? Is there really a devil and does evil exist? Did Jesus really die and come back to life? How CAN one KNOW the truth? Is Christianity a reasonable belief?
These questions, and many variations of the same, have plagued human beings for centuries, both believer and unbeliever. Most of us have been taught to just ‘take it on faith’ and know that our portion is not to ask why, just to do what the word says. Some have gone so far as to say that one indulges in the sin of disbelief if they lack certainty in spiritual matters. Others will teach that by scrutinizing these things you display a lack of maturity in Christ – that your faith is weak and your understanding fragile. It is the regular lament of many a young believer I have encountered – they ‘grew up’ in church but never had anybody try to answer their questions. As a result, they felt they lacked something essential in their faith – they still had doubts but were too intimidated to ask for clarification. Many drifted away when they got ‘old enough’ to decide for themselves whether they wanted to be an adult member of the fellowship. Many made the choice to drift as they just weren’t sure if their faith was their own. Out into the main stream of life they go without the surety of faith to give them ballast. So many heartaches – so many disasters – so many needing extreme crisis to finally be broken and able to turn to God and ask for answers.
The real tragedy here is that you CAN ask questions of God. His finger doesn’t hover over the SMITE button on the ‘heavenly keyboard’ just waiting for you to mess up so He can punish you! The scriptures encourage you to test the spirit, seek His face, for cryin’ out loud JUST ASK! He will answer – it’s right there in Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
God is not afraid of the questions and if you do just a little reading, just a touch of praying, just a bit of searching, your questions can be answered. Hopefully, you come away with the revelation that not all things can be understood by the human mind. The only mysteries we encounter with God Almighty are those things that our brains just aren’t capable of understanding. It’s like trying to stuff a king-sized mattress into a thimble.There will be things we just aren’t going to get. But God has an answer for that conundrum as well. If you can trust that God gets it, He’s handling it and we need not worry or fear, then your spirit will settle, and you can be easy.
In the meantime, next week’s blog will address the rationality of faith in Jesus Christ. I’ll do the work for you! All you have to do is pray and read. Until then, fear not. God is with us.
