Questioning God

I hear it often, too often really. “I can’t believe in a god who would do that.” It doesn’t even matter what ‘that’ is. The very idea that God doesn’t have the right to do and act as He please shocks me. He is either God or He is not.

Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands?  I made the earth, and created man upon it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.  I have aroused him in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,” says the LORD of hosts. Thus says the LORD: “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you and be yours, they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will make supplication to you, saying: ‘God is with you only, and there is no other, no god besides him.'”  Truly, thou art a God who hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior.  All of them are put to shame and confounded, the makers of idols go in confusion together.  But Israel is saved by the LORD with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.

Isaiah 45.11-17

It obviously isn’t a new problem with humans. If Isaiah had to say it, it has been a problem for a long time. Even Saint Paul said it. “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” (Romans 9.20)

The question for today isn’t ‘why do we question God?’ The question for today is, “How can we stop questioning Him?” It starts with accepting that God can’t be wrong. He simply cannot be wrong. No matter how much it hurts our fragile ego, God will always be right.

If God is right, which He is, then our only option is to admit we are the wrong ones. If God says our behavior is wrong, it is wrong. It really is that simple. If God says our priorities need to shift, they need to shift. Abraham is our best example.

After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”  He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.  On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off.  Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.”  And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.  And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father! “And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”  Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.  Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.  But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”  He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”  And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.  So Abraham called the name of that place The LORD will provide; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”  And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”

Genesis 22.1-18

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Abraham didn’t hesitate. He didn’t complain. He trusted that God knew what He was doing. Abraham trusted God and won victory. God didn’t allow Abraham to kill his son. God provided a ram to reward Abraham’s faith.

Now its our turn to stop questioning God. Now its our turn to trust that God knows best. Now its our turn to accept that we are wrong, and God is right. If we can accomplish that shift in our mindset, we will have found victory from our Great Lenten Journey.