Words for Thought: Questions

Questions. Some people abhor them. I’m personally one of those annoying people that loves them. I love asking them and then listing to the answers; watching someone’s face light up as they talk about their passion or share a part of their story. I appreciate the connection that questions can build between two individuals and the sense of interest and worth they can inspire. I enjoy inquiring until I understand the “why?” or “how?” of something - a quirk that almost undoubtedly annoys others. I’ve even considered attempting to become a journalist so that I can legitimately ask people questions every day for a living.

Despite my delight for all things that end with a question mark, I’ve found that there are some moments where searching out the answer becomes more of a hindrance than a help - particularly when it comes to my faith. There are so many things I want to know, questions I want to (and do) ask God. I’m excited for the opportunity to sit at His feet and ask my questions - and finally learn the answers to quite a few of them. But until then, I’m having to learn to accept that I may not comprehend the answer right now. Which is admittedly very difficult for me. I want to know. I want to be able to search, and study, and unearth the solution to the puzzle that’s troubling me. I want a cut and dried answer. But that isn’t always possible. If I could figure everything out, then why would I need faith in the first place? When I allow myself to get stuck on the “why?” or “how?” though, I find it building a wall between myself and God. Though they aren’t inherently bad, it’s when I can’t move past a question that it becomes a problem. Those elusive wisps can put my faith on pause and cause me to doubt His will.

I’ve been asking questions lately and wondering if I’ll ever know the answer. In that, I keep coming back to a verse in Isaiah that reads:


‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord.

‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’
(Isaiah 55:8-9, NLT)

Though the wondering and doubts still plague me sometimes, this verse reminds me that I don’t have to understand in order to trust. I choose to take Him at His word - that though I may never truly understand or be able to see it, He’s working all things for my good. And that may be the best answer of all, because it doesn’t require my interference or pathetic human understanding. Though I see a tiny portion of the canvas, God sees the finished work of art.