In our present culture, we want our paths to look like an exclamation mark. We want it to be straightforward and then we want everything to have a point. When we give our lives to Jesus, we want it to go just like we expect. Everything is an exclamation mark with a point.
But very often that path starts curving way around and we think, “Wait, this is not what I signed up for.” And all of the sudden it’s forming a question mark and we’re looking at it like, “I think there is a point somewhere, but I’m not positive what it is.”
There is no such thing as faith without questions, because faith is unseen. We believe him for something that we cannot see. With our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, we love someone that we have never laid our eyes on and never heard speak audibly. This is the setup for coming into the whole adventure of faith.
So many people don’t understand that our time with him is dialogue. Instead of just reading the scriptures, we must understand that God is speaking to us through his word. Let’s come into it and talk back.
We tend to look at time with God as discipline. Of course, we have to have self-discipline if we want to be mighty in Christ, but our time with him is not just about discipline; it’s about dining. It’s about sitting at the table with him and him being the greater reality – more than anything we can see with our eyes or touch with our hands. It is knowing that he is with us.
He says, “If you will draw near to me, I will draw near to you.” We get to engage with him. When we read his word, we can say, “Lord, you know what? That is such a beautiful passage. I don’t know when the last time it was that I saw that.” Or, “Lord, I don’t know what that means. That seems so odd to me.”
In that grappling and wrestling, we are able to engage with him. I’ve been on walks with him where I’ve thrown my face toward the sky and asked, “How do you feel about this? What’s your stand on it?”
In my questioning, I became intrigued with how many questions are in scripture. In the King James Version, there are 3,298 questions from Genesis to Revelation. People say, “I have all sorts of questions about the word.” But you know what? The word has all sorts of questions for you. You don’t begin to have as many questions for the scriptures that the scriptures have for you!
Many of the questions God poses himself. Over and over again, God in the Old Testament and Christ in the New Testament ask questions that they already know the answer to. Why? Because it’s part of the faith walk. God is calling us to interaction. And not just interaction, but engagement. And not just engagement, but intimacy.
The whole concept of a quest is coming to God free to ask questions – to be able to dialogue right then and to enter that intimate relationship where we know we have been with him.
Beth talks about “The Quest” with James and Betty this week on LIFE TODAY. This devotional is adapted from the program originally airing on February 19, 2018. Not available for reprint.
