Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Hey, God, Can I ask you a question?

Earlier today I asked the question “When you die, what is the first thing you are going to ask God?” Many people came up with good answers; some were passive aggressive and posted on their own walls that God isn’t to be questioned and some were just up front about being to busy in worship to worry about asking God questions. However, I need to ask one more question, “Why shouldn’t we question God?” 

If one opens their Bibles they will see the story of Abraham, did he not question God? Bargain with Him to spare the people of Sodom and Gomorrah if one righteous could be found? Another shining example of someone questioning God is the story of Jacob wrestling with God. I have no doubt in my mind that while Jacob was wrestling with God that he was also asking God some tough questions. From Jacob we see that Job questioned God on a regular basis when he was going through painful experiences. David, a man called the apple of God’s eye questioned God. What about Hannah? Did she not sit on the temple steps, crying and weeping over a much longed for child; I bet she asked some questions of God. 

Questioning God isn’t bad; I am pretty sure He expects us to ask questions. Do you remember asking your parents a question when you were younger and they answered you? I remember as a child, telling my parents, I was going to ride my bicycle in the road; my mother told me “no!” I questioned my mother; only to find out that it was because I could get hit if I played in the road. Even after I was old enough to play in the road, I can say it probably wasn’t such a great idea. I was out riding my bicycle (yes, in the road); I pulled over on the side because some older kids were driving their car up the road. I don’t remember much, but I do remember being clipped by a car mirror and crawling up my parent’s driveway, leaving my bike in the road.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is that of Habakkuk. Habakkuk questioned God. He (paraphrased) asked God “Why do the righteous suffer, and why do you remain silent?” He found his answers in an unexpected fashion: He found he “must alter his perspective on the ways of God with mankind.” The ultimate answer to such difficult questions always takes the questioner back to God himself. Habakkuk questioned God, but ultimately the prophet came back to the profound answer for all the questions of life—he returned to the theme of the greatness and the majesty of God.

You see God is the friend of the honest doubter who dares to talk to God rather than about him. Prayer that includes an element of questioning God may be a means of increasing one’s faith. Expressing doubts and crying out about unfair situations in the universe show one’s trust in God and one’s confidence that God should and does have an answer to humanity’s insoluble problems. Such an experience of doubting is not, however, “to be normative. Habakkuk’s willingness to question and therefore to know the God of the universe rather than settle for knowing the god of popular theology allowed him to see the reality of the world situation.
Questioning God doesn’t make us automatically bad, or unfaithful; rather it builds our faith. So my question again is, “if you were to die right now, and you could ask God any question in the world, what would it be?” You don’t have to answer here, but I do encourage you to be open, be honest, God already knows exactly what you are going to ask, so don’t hide it...ask!

Wrapped in His Arms

I don't often speak about my personal prayer life, however today I feel like I can just write and write and write about prayer. Yesterday I spoke about the ability to go to Almighty God and ask Him a question; today, I was thinking about prayer and in that prayer the act of donning a talllit.
You may be asking, What is a tallit? Does it serve as a reminder? What does it do for your prayer life? Does it make you closer to God?
The Tallit is a four-cornered prayer shawl with specially knotted fringes, called tzitzit, worn as a reminder to live a mitzvah-centered life. The tallit is a portable spiritual home in which you can wrap yourself at home, in synagogue or when you are away on adventures and desire time for prayer, reflection or healing from a sore spot in your life. A person generally selects or receives his/her first full tallit during the process of preparation for bar or bat mitzvah. Some Jews always wear a light-weight tallit under their clothes called a tallit kattan, "little tallit" and others prefer the full shawl-style tallit for prayer and special occasions in life. 
As for what does it do for your prayer life? Well for me, it is a reminder of the ordinance that Jesus gave "go into your closet and pray." It's like I am closer to God because I have greater concentration on Him when I wear my tallit. But does it make me closer to God? Wearing a tallit when I pray doesn't make me closer to God nor does it make me more holy. 
So what does it do for me? Like all people I desire interaction. I desire human communication, touch and even the occassional hug. When I wrap that cloth around my shoulders and I stand there briefly I feel as if God himself is standing there giving me a hug. It's like He's taking all the broken pieces and putting them back together again. 
Wearing a tallit when I pray doesn't make me holy, only God's grace can do that; it doesn't mean I am closer to God than anyone else, God isn't a respector of persons. No, wearing a tallit is being wrapped in God's wings, finding shelter from the everyday storm that I am enduring, it's finding a sanctuary for just God and me to commune and no one else is allowed in that space. Wearing a tallit, is truly being in fellowship with God. 

That One Word

Years ago, when I attended The Cove, my life group chose to do the "ONE WORD CHALLENGE." that was also the year I chose "Trus...