ANGRY QUESTIONS
Have you ever been angry with God? It's okay if you have. It's just you and me here and I'm not about to tell anyone else! Maybe you need to think about that for a minute. As Christians, we don't usually think in terms of anger when it comes to God, do we? Oh, we may be disappointed in circumstances. Or, we may be confused with life's curve balls. But, it's not often, if at all, that we narrow our focus and point our finger and say to God, "Hey, where are You! Don't you know what's happening down here?!"
If truth be told, I think we're trained to stay away from such thoughts. It's just not right to question God, right? These are questions that are usually reserved for unbelievers, right? WRONG! Read the Psalms, a significant number of them play hardball with their accusations and questions. For example, David says in Psalm 60:1, "You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry--now restore us!" and in Psalm 69:3, he says, "I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God." Translation--"God, where are You?!"
Fact is, if you have a problem with God, He can handle it. Tell Him! Think about it this way: above all else, God desires relationship with us. If we're sitting on some questions that make us act dishonestly towards God or damages that relationship in some way, then we'd better deal with the question! God doesn't mind an honest question as long as we're willing to listen to His answer.
There is one caveat though--When He answers, we need to not only listen, we have to also accept His answers. Lately, our twins, David and Graham, have been going through a rather annoying stage. (At least I hope it's a stage!) They ask Sheila or me, if it's okay for them to do this or do that. Sometimes we say yes, sometimes we say no. A problem arrives when we say no. To me, that's the end of the subject. But, "NO" to them only takes us to stage two of a long and involved game of "Let's Rephrase the Question!" Eventually, actually in a relatively short period of time, ol' dad says, "No means no, now get lost!"
So here's the caution--When God answers and we don't like the answer, don't keep asking the same question over and over again! It may not irritate God as much as it does me (He does have more patience than I!), but I do know it's a waste of time! Accept the answer and move on, knowing that in the long run, we'll be much happier with His decision than if we got our own way.
Now, let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. In Mark 4:35-39, we read, That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
We're told The disciples woke [Jesus] and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" Do you hear the stress, the anger, the accusation in their voices as they declared, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"The disciples, in the fear of the moment, in the midst of the storm, accused Jesus of not being there when they needed him most. They accused Jesus of not caring.
When I read the disciples words, I think of another accusation over a storm, but this storm wasn't on the sea of Galilee, it was the storm of death that had enveloped Mary and Martha as they lost their brother, Lazarus. Listen to Mary's words. "When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:32) Do you hear the frustration? Where were you? I thought you were our friend? YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE WHEN WE NEEDED YOU MOST!
If that's the way some of you are feeling right now, understand that it's okay. Such feelings gripped the disciples and Mary, and they sometimes grip us as well. But now it's time to listen to God's answer. Even if we don't see it now, Jesus does care! He cares more than we can ever know or comprehend.
Even though Mary and the disciples felt abandoned, we know that they weren't Jesus was right there in the boat, while their storms raged around them! In both cases, Jesus was there; in both cases He calmed their storms. And, in both cases, the waves of fear, of grief, of anger subsided as Jesus lovingly reached out.
But, before that happened, before Jesus could minister to their loss and fear, both Mary and the disciples had to see Jesus above the waves. The problem was their focus. They focused on the waves and not on Jesus, so the storms continued. It continued until they finally turned to Jesus and came into his presence.
Now, there is more than one kind of storm in life isn't there? There are storms of loneliness, storms of rejection, storms of illness, or storms of poverty. There are the storms of broken relationships and capsized dreams, and yes, the storm of death. At one time or another we all have storms raging around us. The question is, how are you going to react? Will you be able to rest in the arms of Jesus or will you be running around, screaming and trying to bail? Are you going to relax and trust that God will get you through it, or are you going to accuse God of not being there when you needed Him most?!
Here are a few things to remember
about the storms of life:
First, God never promised that our journey to the other side of life would be without incident. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that Christians should expect to be kept from suffering. Quite the opposite, really. God brings storms our way to test our faith and help us realize that we're safe, even if there are waves all around us. Fact is, we need storms in order to grow!
Second, just because the storms are raging and things are a little scary, don't jump to the conclusion that God doesn't care. Jesus promised to be with us until the end of the age. Place your life in His hands and you'll be able to experience peace even when the wind is whipping around and the waves are as high as skyscrapers! The trick is to stop looking at the waves, and start looking at Jesus!
Prayer
Lord, help us to trust in Your promise to always be here with us! Help us to look at You instead of the storms, and in so doing, help us to grow stronger in faith and more intimate with You! Thank You that we need not fear asking You the questions. Thank You that You're always the Answer!--Amen!
