Questions haunt us and taunt us. Questions about faith. Questions about life. Questions about death. Questions about what happens after death. Questions about love. Questions about the future. Questions about our past. Questions about God. Questions about Jesus. Questions about the Holy Spirit. Questions about forgiveness. Questions about anger. Questions about church. Questions about our identity. Questions about worship. Questions about relationships. Questions about salvation. Questions about our culture. Questions about how our culture impacts our faith. Questions about how much our faith and our life impacts, or should impact our culture. Questions about our view of the world. Questions about how the world views us. Questions about our world view. Questions of who, what, when, where, and why? Are you weary yet? So many questions!

Questions can wear us down and wear us out. Questions can discourage us. Questions can frustrate us. Questions can defeat us. Questioning for questioning sake is futile. However, when questions lead us to the discovery of truth, to finding a deeper understanding of God, and the development of a stronger faith, they prove worthwhile.

The important thing about questions, especially questions of the heart and soul, is that we go to the One who can answer our questions in a way that heals our hearts and refreshes our souls. Here are three examples:

Job had questions about his suffering. His friends had questions about Job. "Why is this happening?" "What have you done?" He requested an audience with God so that he could ask his questions. God answered him, not exactly in the manner he was expecting, and eventually Job gained a clearer image God.

The leading religious leaders in Jesus' day questioned his motives, his authority, his motivation, and his authenticity. His disciples questioned his decisions and questioned His reasons for leaving. When He was crucified, they questioned their future. They saw the resurrected Lord, received instructions for the future, followed those instructions and changed the world. Those with hearing ears and seeing eyes met the Savior.

The wisest man who ever lived had questions. He sought answers to questions involving the meaning and purpose for what he called his "Meaningless life under the sun." His life experiences and questions are recorded in his journal, Ecclesiastes. At the end of his writings he shared his findings:

⁹Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails--given by one Shepherd. ¹²Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

¹³Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

(Ecclesiates 12:9-14, NIV)

I have only one piece of advice. Take your questions to God. He can handle them. He will provide you with answers. His answers may not come in the form you plan for or expect, but He will answer. He is the source for the answers you are seeking.

Tom

A follow-up thought (2/23/10):

We do not pray for the sake of praying, but for the sake of being heard. We do not pray in order to listen to ourselves praying but in order that God may hear us and answer us. Also, we do not pray in order to receive just any answer: it must be God's answer.

(Thomas Merton. Thoughts in Solitude. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999, p. 104.)