Can God Handle My Questions?

When I was growing up, my mother often said, “Susie, you think too much.” I have no doubt my incessant questions created a good deal of frustration for my mom. Her comment, though, planted a seed in my young heart that pondering; wondering; trying to connect dots of understanding; and asking questions—especially questioning God—were not good.

(Note: It’s important to remember the words we speak to our kids matter. We don’t realize which messages will stick! Despite Mom’s message about my overthinking, she was the person who fueled my Christian faith more than any other. I have missed her since her death last September. I cherish many of our adult conversations as well as the assurance Mom prayed for me, as well as every one of her children, their spouses, and grandchildren every single day.)

As I keep growing into my own personal faith—a lifelong process, I’ve discovered with delight—my trust that God is all-knowing and loves me unconditionally keeps growing. I am confident questions don’t intimidate or overwhelm God, and I never feel God chiding me for thinking too much.

God can handle my questions!

     I’ve been told the question most frequently asked in the Bible is How long? I imagine Why, God? ranks right up there alongside How long? I’ve asked both questions a lot!

     I intend to lean into my questions with gratitude and confidence in an all-knowing God who loves with extravagance. Recently, I read a poem that reinforced this intention.[i]

Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart

and try to love the questions themselves . . .

Don’t search for the answers,

which could not be given to you now,

because you would not be able to live them.

And the point is to live everything.

Live the questions now.

Perhaps then, someday far in the future,

you will gradually, without even noticing it,

live your way into the answer.

Rainer Maria Rilke (Austrian poet, 1875-1926), Letters to a Young Poet

Blessings On Your Journey, wherever you may be………

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[i] NavPress navpress@e.navpress.com, 8/18/2021, The Disciple Maker