Questioning God

Good morning and happy Sabbath to all of you. Good to be with you in the morning, especially on a beautiful day. You can have service in the morning and go out and enjoy Creation afterwards. That's a wonderful thing. Appreciate harmony singing. It's always wonderful to see our young people with their talent and their beautiful voices.

Also, our piano duet over here getting a violin along with the piano is always a wonderful thing by the package, so we appreciate them. My last time pairing up with Josh, we paired up a few times before, and it's always good to work with him.

It's interesting. I was taught by his grand-uncle in high school, and I was a faculty member with his grandfather and club director of his father. I taught Josh, and I'm not sure I'll be able to teach your children. I have to live a long time, and you'd have to get it pretty quick. We'll see. Of course, the world will probably end by then. Who knows? But it's always wonderful, and we appreciate you.

And make your children, your sons, be as smart and tall as Josh, and your daughters as pretty as Chelsea. It makes it nice. My title is Questioning God. A lot of people question the existence of God, and they use so-called science, evolution, to eliminate God. However, more and more science is proving that God is their creation, just too complex for them to start denying too many things. That's why Paul and Romans said that they willingly are ignorant, which they are.

And while that's a good subject, that's not where I want to go today. Today, my title, Questioning God, is more about questions that men in the Bible ask God, and that God asks men in the Bible, and the answers. I've always been taught that God created man to enlarge his family, and that he gave his family to learn about him. Both are true. In all my life, I have questioned. I've asked my parents when I was a child the questions, and I listened to the questions my children asked me.

And it tells me a lot. Why? Because our questions to our Father and our answers to our children help me understand God, our Father in heaven, which is what we're supposed to do and be like our older brother. Have you ever known your children to hide? Of course, all of us have us little children. What do we say to them? They ask, well, where are you? Often we know when they're really small, all you're going to do is just cover their eyes and say peekaboo. And they think you can't see them. Not so true. But isn't that what happened with Adam and Eve in Genesis 3?

We read in Genesis 3 and verse 8. Of course, they had been created. God had married them. They were in a beautiful, those beautiful settings that we can imagine. God hasn't created a garden for us yet. But they heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden in verse 8 of chapter 3. In the cool of the day, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Before this, they were happy to see him. Now they've hid. And God called to Adam and said, where are you? Now God knew where they were, just as you do with your children. But is it really a question about location or a question about relationships? This last week, it's interesting. When you ask a question, usually it's because something is wrong. We just had our family, our daughter and our husband and their children from California with us and our youngest grandchild Levi. He's three years old and does what three-year-olds do. He was hiding and our daughter Crystal called for Levi. Levi, where are you? And she found him in our laundry room eating an ice cream bar.

He had actually saw me get ice cream out of the freezer, which we have in our laundry room, a little chest freezer. He took a stool in there and got up and took one and opened it up and closed the door, sitting there happily eating away, enjoying himself until he was caught in the act. Adam and Eve kind of were that way, too. What did Adam say? Verse 10, Adam said, I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. I hid myself.

There's never been a problem for him before. Verse 11, he said, Who told you you were naked? Who told you you could have an ice cream bar? Who told you you could do this? Have you eaten the tree that I commanded you that you should not eat? Nice question. Did you eat of that tree? Well, God knew what they did, just as you know with your child.

They knew they did something wrong. And so why did God ask? Well, I suppose He wanted to see what they would say. Just as we do. Did they confess their sin? Did they make excuses? Or did they do what they did?

Blame. It's the woman. Well, it's the snake. It's somebody else's fault. It was a teaching moment and it involved correction. For them it meant they got thrown out of their home. Leave the garden with two carabim with their swords guarding it so they can't get back in. There's always a price to pay sometimes. Of course, our next question we have in the Bible, and I'm sure there are lots of other questions that aren't written down, was Cain and Abel when they brought sacrifices.

You know, I've never woke up one morning and decided, hey, I'll go out and butcher a lamb and sacrifice it. You know, God had to tell Cain and Abel what to do. Nobody just knows these things on their own. It just doesn't happen that way. So obviously God had instructed them even though it wasn't written in the text. And God doesn't judge us if there's no way he can know what he wants.

How many times do we read, didn't I command you Israel? Didn't I command you? Didn't I? All these things we had that with Jericho. He said, don't take anything out of the city. Just burn it and let it go. Anything belongs to God. And of course, King Saul killed everybody, animals, everything. Didn't I tell you? God doesn't leave us in the dark when He directly requires something of us. He can know what that is. And so, Genesis 4.6, God had respect for Abel's offering. He did it the way He was told to do it. Follow the instructions.

Cain didn't, and God didn't respect his offering. They both brought offerings. And in verse 4, when God didn't accept Cain's, 1st chapter 4, verse 6, the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? We ask that sometimes each other, why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? Did God know? Yes, of course He did. If you do well, shall you not be accepted? Then instructed to Cain, If you don't do well, sin lies at the door. Did Cain listen?

Well, do your children always listen? Do you always listen? Do I always listen? No. Verse 8, Cain talked with Abel his brother. It came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. And they get the next question from God. God said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? Where is Abel?

He said, I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper? Yeah, like sometimes people lie to try to get out of it. Again, God asked questions not for information. God knew he'd killed Abel. God knew where he was. But He wants to reveal the human heart, expose the truth, and even invite repentance of our faith. Cain lied. God knew it, just as we do. We know it when our children do that.

They ask questions, though, and I love children that ask questions. I love people that ask questions. Our oldest grandchild of Crystal's grace, she's nine. She's pretty shy as a child, but now she's the question's everything. So he pulls up our picture books and who are these people? Why did you meet them? Why did you do this? It's fun to answer some of those questions, and even though some of the questions they ask are difficult.

But these questions we ask and we hear, it helps Michelle and I to learn about them. More importantly, it allows them, along with our example, to learn about us. And that's what we do when we follow Christ and God. But more than that, in many ways, it teaches us about ourselves. How do we answer? What do we do? I remember my son was two and a half, three years old, just talking a little bit, not a whole lot.

He came to our bedroom one morning about six in the morning and came and shook me and said, Dad, shut up. I told him, I said quit it, AJ, quit it. Dad, shut up. And I was really ticked off at him because I didn't want to wake up. And so I'm not sure if I slapped him on his bottom or what I did, but I corrected him and he was really, his countenance fell. He started saying, Bad Daddy. When your child says Bad Daddy, then you've got to wonder what you did. Of course, I figured out what he was saying.

He'd gone over the window and he was telling me the sun was up. And not to shut up. Well, you obviously feel terrible hitting your child or telling you the sun's up. But some of those things that you learn about yourself, are you sure? Do you listen first? Do you really know the heart of the person asking the question? So in analyzing this, it helps me understand God, his questions, his answers.

When we ask God questions, and he wants us to ask, he wants us to ask. He says that. And all he tells us is Matthew 7. Seek. Ask. Knock. The door will open. I'll answer you in some way or another. He wants our involvement.

He says that we want involvement with our family, with our children. As children, we naturally ask questions out of curiosity. The whys. Why is that? For information. The when. The how. Are we there yet? Dad? Mom? Those questions. When we look at the questions God asks and the questions that we ask God, we can learn things as well. Things about God and things about us. And where our thoughts may disagree with God. Where we need to change. Well, Isaiah 55 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways as the Lord.

And that's true. What are we trying to do here today? Try to get in line with the same ways. We want his thoughts to be our thoughts. We want his ways to be our ways. And first we realize that God is far beyond us. He has full information. He knows what we're thinking, let alone what we're saying. And we are to be like him.

So in looking at the answers, we learn and we grow. How? Well, we can build faith by listening to his answers. We can learn patience, learn to trust him. But he'll answer. We can learn not to deny or judge God for the things he does. Everyone asks questions of God. Time answers some of them. I still have questions that remain unanswered. And my questions, sometimes they're whispered in prayer.

Sometimes they're cried out in pain. Sometimes they're asked boldly, like a child that knows your parent is listening, wants to know the answer. The Bible never shames people for asking questions of God. But it does show us something important, the same as children asking us questions.

His answers as well. Some are whispered by God. Some are answered by an event. Some are answered boldly. Some are answered through a third party. Even an animal. The donkey answered Balaam. Some are answered by silence. They're all answers. Questions show how children generally think. Questions are usually literal, emotional, sometimes embarrassing, sometimes hilarious. I wonder sometimes if God looks at our questions the same way in learning about us. When God says, now I know, like he did to Abraham, it wasn't when he was 75 years and told him to leave, which he did.

God knew that. He told him he'd have a child, and he didn't for 25 years. Finally, he did. He knew that. Then he raised his son and was about to offer him. God finally says, now I know. He takes time to test us. He can't give us eternity unless he knows us. He knows that through the things we do and the questions we ask. Questions children ask often show their development as they learn.

This is our questions, too, show our faith. Things they ask may be testing safety and permanence. Questions such as, is Daddy coming back? Is Mommy coming back? When you're little, you always wonder.

I mean, Jason, he wants his mother and dad in sight unless he's eating ice cream. Seeking assurance of love. If I do something bad, will you still love me? Yeah. Blending imagination with reality. Can I leave the lights on? There's somebody under the bed or in the closet. We ask those questions sometimes about understanding relationships.

How many little boys want to marry their mommy? Or marry their first grade teacher? Whatever. Things about relationships that we have to learn as we grow. These are the things God learns about us as he prepares us for the part that he has for us.

But sometimes it seems like he's not answering us. Do we always answer our children? Yes, but in different ways. As parents, we try to answer with what is good for them at the stage of development that they're at. It helps them grow. It helps them understand the language that they can understand. Don't we ask literal questions of God? Yes. Do we ask God more when we're emotional? In pain or in trials? Yes. Is God amused at some of our questions?

I'm sure he is. Are we embarrassed to ask God some things because we know better or we think we should do it ourselves? Sometimes we don't think we need God. We want to do it ourselves when actually we do. As parents, we have different answers, and God does not always answer the same way as well. It depends on the situation. It depends on the person. It depends on what God feels is best for us. He thinks those out and he knows the perfect information. Sometimes he gives clarity to something. A simple example of that is Numbers 9. Nothing was really wrong. They just had to know something in Numbers 9.

They had a problem with people about taking Passover, and God needed to give them clarity. In Numbers 9, verse 8, Moses said to them, Stand still. I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. I'll ask God. I didn't give the law. God did. I'll ask him. He had told them to keep Passover like we did a couple weeks ago concerning you.

Moses said, I'll ask. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, which we don't quite have that happen. It would be nice if you'd just tell us, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be it in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover to the Lord.

The 14th day of the second month, at even shall they keep it and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. No one did anything wrong. They were just asking for clarity. Yeah, I miss the Passover. What do I do? God gave them an answer. Sometimes God gives silence. Daniel 12.9. God told Daniel so much.

He showed him so many things. All the dreams, all the visions. In Daniel 12, verse 8, God said some things to him. He said, I heard, but I understood not. Then said, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said to me, Go your way, Daniel. The words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. I hate not seeing the end of a movie. Now my wife, she can make up an ending, and she's very happy with that. I've got to see if I'm right. That's typical sometimes. But Daniel wanted to see the end of the movie, too.

God said, No. Not for you. That's my answer. He often expects faith when we want more clarity or more information. The apostles did as well. Acts 1, verse 6, a similar question to Daniel's. In Acts 1, verse 6, again, this is right after Christ had been resurrected. They had gone fishing. They'd come back, and they're asking questions. In verse 6, it says, When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

We want it. They wanted it. We all want it. And he said to them, It's not for you to know the time of the season which the Father has put in His own power. Some answers don't belong to us. At least, not yet. Matthew 24. Christ has given them a lot of information already. Jesus has partially answered some of these questions before He died. Matthew 24. Partial answers keep us watching, but still emphasize faith over absolute timelines.

I'm kind of glad God told us how long the Great Tribulation would be so we can count down. That's a hard one. If you didn't know how long it was going to be, it'd be harder to take. Verse 3, He sat upon the Mount of Olives with the disciples, and they came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of your coming to the end of the world? Oh, man, we'd like to have some clarity on that. And He answered, Take heed that no man deceives you. Many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and deceive many.

We have lots of people calling themselves Christians. They mean well. They're motives, perhaps, but they don't understand. God hasn't given them His Spirit. Then we're told of the wars that will come, and rumors of wars, famines that will come, pestilences that will be honest, earthquakes, and offenses, and betrayal, and hatred. He lays out stipulations of things that will happen, false prophets, and sin would abound. All those things that happened all along for 2,000 years, the end time will be no different than that, a little more pronounced, more than likely.

In verse 14, The gospel we preach to the world, and then shall the end come. We're out trying to preach the gospel all the time. We do it. We preach it. And sometimes I think we try to preach about it and see if we can bring the end.

We don't. We preach it so God can bring about the end. We don't control that. It's nice traveling around the world, giving the gospel to world leaders for decades. The end didn't come then. It will. We're still preaching the gospel, and God knows when. What does He tell us, though? His answers be prepared for the tribulation. And He warns us of those signs and wonders.

And if somebody does a sign and wonder, and we know that the false prophet will do some of those things, that if possible, it would deceive the very elect, you and me. Sometimes people will see things and hear and believe things that are lies, and we have splits in the church, sometimes over things that people don't have the patience to wait. Sometimes the answers are warning. God gives us. Again, sometimes He gives action as His answer. Something that happens. Turn to Judges 6, if you would. The story there is of Gideon. You know the story well.

I always loved the Deliverer stories. The Old Testament was more fun to me. I preferred deliverance to being beheaded or sodden half like Isaiah was supposed to. Those are so much fun. And this is a good story. And notice that Gideon is praised before doing anything. In verse 12 of Judges 6, The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.

I suppose that was encouraging to him. God comes down and says, Oh, you're a mighty man of valor. Who? Me? What? Seems funny. Gideon said to him, Oh, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then is all this befallen us? Where are all those miracles which our fathers told us of?

Saying, Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt? The walls of water? You heard the sermonette? But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And that was true. He hadn't really forsaken them. They had forsaken God.

They had forgot like you're not supposed to. You know, Judd, Gideon was told all the stories. He repeated them here. Obviously, they hadn't forgotten the stories. The stories were good. They had forgotten God. They had forgotten to keep his laws and things, but they hadn't forgot the stories. The stories were good for that. Verse 14, The Lord looked on him and said, Go, in this year might. Again, you're strong enough, you're big enough, you can do this.

And you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? Did Gideon see himself this way? I'm not. In verse 15, he says, My Lord, where shall I save Israel? My family is poor in Manasseh. I am the least in my father's house.

Who, me? Sometimes when you ask God those questions, we don't necessarily trust. You just called him a mighty man of valor, and he's worried about it. God says in verse 16, I'll be with you. Surely I'll be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man. You see, when God does something, it's about him. It's not about you. Gideon was thinking about him, and God was saying, It's me.

I'll help you. In verse 17, Gideon said to God, If now I've found grace in your sight, then show me a sign that you talked with me. Give me a sign. It's not wrong to ask for a sign. You may or may not get it. I'm sure for him it seemed kind of surreal. Am I in a dream here, a vision?

Sometimes God answers things that don't seem real. Is this really it? Gideon wasn't sure. We know how Gideon, this mighty man of valor, put out the fleece twice. It wasn't good enough once. God, would you just put the fleece out and make the fleece wet with the dew of heaven and keep the ground dry? Then I'll know. And he did. It says you wrung out water out of the fleece. Maybe it just fleeced the tracks water. How about let's do it again?

Let's keep the fleece dry and make the ground wet. Okay, Gideon, I'll do that for you. And he did. Another miracle. My quietest dramatic is the Red Sea, but dramatic nonetheless. He was still wondering. Verse 25, Judges 6, it came to pass the same night that the Lord came to him.

Take your father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, throw down the altar of Baal that your father has sent up, and cut down the grove that is by it. Dad is dad who compromised a bit here. Your father had this grove. And I want you to go cut it down. Usually when you're asked to do something against your father, it's not too good a thing to do in human terms.

But when God asks you to do something, you do it. He said, Build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this rock. In the other ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which you have cut down. So take the wood that your father grew this tree, and cut it down, and burn it for the offering. And Gideon did it. Took ten men of his servants, did as the Lord had said unto him. So it was, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city.

He could not do it by the day. He did it by night. This man of valor chose to do it in the dark when no one would see him. Kind of what we do sometimes.

And God hadn't told him exactly when to do it. He just said, Do it. So he did obey. And what happens when you obey God instead of doing something that seems like other people would appreciate? Verse 28, When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered on the altar that was built. And they said one to another, Who did this?

And when they inquired and asked Gideon, The son of Joash has done this thing. Yeah, he's the bad guy. The men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son that he may die. Sometimes people want to get rid of you when you obey God. It happens because he has cast down the altar of Baal and because he has cut down the grove that was by it.

And sometimes people want you gone when you do something that God asks you to do. God had the son when to do it. Gideon did destroy the idols at night. In Israel, the men went after him for it. Doing what is right doesn't mean people will always believe you, that God told you to do it. It's often about obedience and faith, even in adversity. But Gideon was able to ask God. I've put out the fleece of my life a few times. God's answered a couple of times. And like men of the city, their people wanted to get rid of me because of it.

You can't prove God told you something unless you were there when he said it. But you have to know in your own mind whether you did it or didn't do it. And oftentimes in my questions, how does God answer? Most of mine have been through third persons. I've always laid the fleece out in the sense that God has something happen or someone asked me things that were totally out of the ordinary, totally unusual, things that wouldn't be asked. And it's happened a couple of times. Both times, there were things that caused me grief. The last one I did was actually united. I was censured for violating policy. But is policy more than God?

No. Did people believe that God told me to do it? Not necessarily. I wouldn't have been censured. But I knew. And you have to do what God does. And if you're wrong, you pay the price. If you're right, you may pay the price anyway. But at least you did what God said, and I'd rather be in favor with Him than with men. And that's where Gideon was. But Gideon was delivered by God. And he took men, and he was going to fight the Midianites, and he's going to raise an army and meet them. There were 135,000 of them, and he had a bunch of people, and God said, oh, that's not too many people.

And okay, we'll let down the 22,000, and that's too many. Let's get it down to 300. Because it's about God. And if you have too many people, well, we were strong enough to do that. No. When God does it, it's about Him. And He answers things with dramatic events sometimes. Another dramatic event showing who He is is in 1 Kings 18. We love these public things that God does, where it's undeniable that God did it.

So in my case, I wish it had been undeniable, but hey, you do it anyway. This, of course, is a time when Elijah was with the prophets of Baal. It was really turned totally to idolatry, basically. And after this whole day, Elijah goes to test them, and he tells them, hey, you make an offering, and all you preach to Baal, you go out there, and you get God to light your fire and light your offering.

Of course, He doesn't do it, and they cut themselves, and they scream, and they shout, and they dance, and He mocks them. Hey, maybe He's asleep. Yell out or things like that. He says.

But then He says, okay, it's my turn. Okay, build an altar, which He does. Cut some wood up, which He does. Dig a trench around it, which they do. Fill the trench. Pour water over the altar and over the burnt wood, which they do. Fill the trench, which they do. Pour some more water on the wood, which they do.

And that happens. He does it in 1 Kings 18, verse 37, Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned their heart back again. And the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, and licked up the water in the trenches. Now if that happened, you'd probably believe God was involved. Pretty easy to see that. When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, the Lord, He's God.

Yes, the Lord, He's God. And He tells them to kill the prophets, and they do, and it was wonderful. It would be nice if God always answered that way so that everybody could see it and everybody would know. Let everybody just run off and follow God. It doesn't always happen that way. He doesn't always do it so dramatically.

And since God doesn't always answer our prayers the way that we want, do we quit asking the questions? When the people in the world don't get the answer they want, they go so far as to say, there is no God.

Or if there is one, He just doesn't like me or doesn't care. The type of questions people often ask that create that situation, they ask God about suffering, about guidance, about forgiveness, justice in the future. Among those most frequent and honest questions that they ask are the evil, the suffering, and the imperative justice in the world. Questions about an individual, such as, why did God let little Johnny die? He was just a little boy. Or the collective, why did God allow the Holocaust? A lot of the Jews who believed in God gave up on him.

They were tailored down in Los Angeles. They knew they had a number on his arm from the things. He was pretty mad at God. Why didn't he deliver us? Other atrocities. Because God is God of love, and how could he allow this? Because he doesn't fix it the way I want it fixed, then it must not be God.

Or he doesn't care. But God reveals himself as just, as a patron, purposeful. He doesn't always explain why. He keeps his promises, but not always without the patience to wait for the answer, or to see the answer for what it is. Turn to Habakkuk, chapter 1. Habakkuk is rarely read. It's right after Nahum. It's the fifth book before the end of the Old Testament. If you're looking for it, those minor prophets are kind of hard to find sometimes.

But in reading about Habakkuk, chapter 1, verse 2, it says, O Lord, how long shall I cry with you, and you will not hear? Even cry out to you with the violence. Won't you save us? Verse 3, Why do you show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievances? For spoiling and violence are before me. And there are they that raise up strife and contention. Verse 4, Therefore the law is slack, and judgment doesn't go forth? For the wicked compasses about the righteous. And why are the wrong judgments that proceed?

Have we been there before? We see injustice all around us. Obviously, God answered with something Habakkuk didn't want to hear. Verse 5, Behold, you among the heathens regard the wonders marvelously. I will work a work in your days which you will not believe, though it be told you. I will raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation which shall march through the breath of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.

They are terrible and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen will spread themselves, and their horsemen will come from far, and they shall fly as eagles and hasten to eat. They shall come for all violence. Their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

And they shall scoff at kings and princes, and shall be a scorn among them. They shall deride every stronghold, for they shall heap dust and take it. Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over and offend, imputing his power to his God.

Yes! That's not what you want to hear when you're talking about God. Why are you listening to this? Well, I want to send these bad people. And they did. That was what saved Hezekiah. The snack room was yelling, what God's going to save you? The other guys didn't save him. And Hezekiah said, God, did you hear him? He's talking about you, and God fixed it.

But that's what Habakkuk's looking at. And he complains again. Verse 12, he continues, Arguing not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my holy one, we shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them for judgment, but, mighty God, you have established them for correction. You are purer eyes than to behold this evil. You can't look on iniquity. Why do you look upon them and deal treacherously and hold your tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he is? We often want God to change things in our lives that are wrong. Other biblical characters also ask about justice, but they are very careful not to accuse God. You can't accuse God of not being righteous, but you can't question. That's not a problem. Genesis 18, Abraham asks, Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked? Far be it from you to do something like that. He did it respectfully. Job asked God, Why did I not die at birth instead of going through this? It was a lament question, not in rebellion. Jeremiah asking, Jeremiah 12, 1, Righteous are you, Lord, when I plead with you? You let me talk with you of your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are they all happy that deal treacherously? Same with Sabbatic. You can ask God. Turn to Psalm 13. I read, starting in verse 1 there, Psalms talk of this often about pleading with God. And we do plead with God, and that's fine. Verse 1, Psalm 13, How long will you forget me, O Lord, forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Verse 2, How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider in here, Lord my God, lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Lest my enemy say, I have prevailed against him, and those that troubled me rejoice when I moved. But I have trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. It's difficult. How long? And people do. When you're put aside, sometimes rejoice. I was in exile for a month once, and there were several people rejoicing. They thought I was gone. And I'm like the bad penny, though. I keep coming back. Another famous, How long we have in Revelation. Revelation 6, 10. They cried with a loud voice, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? How long? How long? That's patience, and that's faith. We don't know when. Note these How longs. They require patience. If you didn't do it, I want it. I want it right now. That's not what God does. Turn to 1 Samuel 23. We often ask for direct guidance and decisions. Nothing wrong with that. Then what do we do next? Questions. 1 Samuel 23, 1. There's a few verses there. They told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Kila. And they robbed the threshing floors. What did David do? Verse 2, David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? I don't want to go if you're not with me. Lord said to David, Go and smite the Philistines and save Kila. And David's men said to him, Hey, we're afraid here in Judah. There's a lot of them, not of many of us. How much more often if we come to Kila against the enemies of the Philistines? And David, verse 4, acquired again. Okay, God, let's do it again. Shall I go? And he answered and said, Arise, go down to Kila, and I will deliver the Philistines into your hand. God sometimes answers clearly, sometimes conditionally, sometimes progressively, and sometimes he answers through third parties.

And we may sometimes question our calling. Why did God call me? What use has he for me? I felt that. I was a widow's kid in the church for years. My father was great by all accounts. The things I was told about him, he died when I was four. I never really knew him. My cousin called a couple weeks ago and we were talking. He's 10 years older, 12 years older than I am. He said, Oh, yeah, I went to a baseball game with your dad. Your dad was so strong. He told me some more stories I'd never heard about my dad. But why me? Why did he call you? We don't always know. Moses did this as well in Exodus, chapter 3. Moses, Garcia, had his 40 years with Pharaoh and 40 years as a shepherd.

Now he's 80 years old. He's led the armies of Egypt. He fought against the America of its day, the world power. And he's asking, verse 4 of Exodus 3, The Lord saw that he turned aside to see. God called him out of the burning bush. He said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. Good answer. God calls you. Yep, I'm here. What do you want? He said, Draw not hither. Put your shoes off your feet. The place you stand on is holy ground. And he now answered a question that Moses was probably thinking all along. Who is this? Who are you? It's interesting. Verse 6, he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hit his face, for he was afraid to look on God. He finally had his question answered. Why are you not delivering Israel? God said, I've surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt. And I've seen and heard their cry for their taskmasters, and I know their sorrows. And I've come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, to bring them up out of the land to a good land, and a large, and the land flowing with milk and honey, and to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Verse 9, Therefore, behold, the cry of the children has come to me, and I have also seen the impression that the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?

That I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? He was thinking, I led that army, and I saw the slaves. We don't have weapons, and we're not. He's probably thinking humanly.

But God knows that when he says in verse 12, certainly I will be with you. I, the big I, is God. I'll be with you, and this shall be a token to you that I have sent you. When you brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve on this mountain. God's responses emphasize His power, not the person's ability. Moses probably had more training than any of us in leadership and things with those years, but it wasn't about that. It wasn't about how much you know. My questions have always been, I seldom knew what I was doing, much of what I had to do in my life. But God knows what He wants. God welcomes honest questions and responds with truth, revelation of His character, and a call to trust Him. Not every question gets a direct answer, but no one's condemned when they act in faith. Sometimes we have questions, especially when we're fearful. The disciples did. Matthew 8. They're on the boat, and the wind blows, and the sea comes up, and these little boats in the Galilee tend to sink pretty easily if you get massive waves. In Matthew 8.25, they wake up. Jesus, He's sleeping in it. He has no fear at all, because He knows where God is and what's going on.

But the disciples wake Him and said, Lord, save us. We're perishing. Verse 25.

And He said, Why are you fearful? You of little faith. Why are you afraid? Don't be afraid.

He rose and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.

And the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this that even the wind and the seas obey Him?

Yeah. God has that power. Do we have the faith? Sarah had difficulty believing God. I was afraid when she was caught in disbelief. She was told she would have a child decades before, and she hadn't. She tried to surrogate mother. That said, God, that's not it.

And then she quit having her cycle. Childhood was passed. I think God deliberately did that because had He done it before, well, maybe it just finally took. But when you no longer are dropping eggs and it's all over, it's really hard to deny that God did this. But when she's told that she's going to, she laughs. And God says, Why did you laugh? Is anything too hard for God? No, it's not. For you, for me, for Sarah, for whoever. And she came. I love verse 15 of John, I was 18. Sarah denied, saying, I didn't laugh because she was afraid. You know, we're afraid to face God even when we do something like that. And He says, No, you did laugh. Just like, Yeah, you did take the ice cream. You know, it's all over your face. We know. God knows. She was human, and we are human.

Some questions from God reveal calling and purpose. And our response. I like Isaiah when he heard the verse of the Lord in Isaiah 6, when God says, Who shall I send and who will go for us? And Isaiah said, Well, I'll go. Here I am. Send me. Sometimes God lets us have a response. And a lot of people want to be sent. And I found that's great. Although I find some people want to be sent because their motive is wrong. Send me because I want to be in charge. I want to slay Goliath. I want to be top dog. And people like that end up leaving, starting their own churches, doing other things. It's happened. But if you have the right motive, you do it. Questions are powerful because God doesn't usually ask information, questions to gain information. He asks to reveal your heart, to reveal your direction and your respect for Him if you have it. Some of the way God answers prayers, look at that. Sometimes, like I said, it's direct answers. When the obedience requires clarity, when the path is clear, delay becomes disobedience. If it's clear, they needed this more in the Old Testament because they didn't have a Bible to read stories. Another way God answers, He reveals God's character, not just information. He answers by showing who He is, not by explaining why. He gives a perspective on being like Him. It shifts the focus to relationship and trust in Him. Sometimes He answers in the form of another question, to expose the heart. Questions behind the questions. Questions are not for His information, it's for our transformation. We had a sermon about that on the Holy Day, transforming us.

God probes our inner allegiance, our fear, and our love.

Response to man's reflection, not just information.

Sometimes He gives partial answers, waiting, and or silence. Silence is not an absence of an answer.

It's often a preparation to test us and our faith. And God's silent does deepen our faith. When we have patience and wait for Him and He answers, it makes you stronger. We should be growing stronger every time God does this. And He does that. And that faith reveals Him to us.

Sometimes we have corrective answers when a question may be misaligned.

Sometimes our questions to Him have faulty assumptions that need correcting. Remember Jonah complaining about the bush that grew up over him, gave him a nice shade and the heat of the desert, and he loved it till it wilted and died. And what did God say to him? And Jonah 4, should I not have compassion on all these people? You have compassion on this plant, and I can't have compassion on people that are repented.

God corrects our perspective before He comforts our pain sometimes. It humbles us. Human pride goes away. God redirects from self-purpose to His divine purposes.

Sometimes He answers through action. When deeds will speak louder than words.

Some of these answers, again, they're demonstrated. The Red Sea was a demonstration. The plagues of Egypt were a demonstration. When God acts, doubt leaves because it's obvious, and it humbles our human pride and expands our perspective of who God is. And He lets us ask for things that may seem impossible. When Hezekiah said, well, you said I'd live, but how do I know that?

Okay, well, give a sign. Do you want the sun to go forward 10 degrees or back 10 degrees?

Well, it's already going forward, so let's go backwards. Let's try something that's impossible.

Sometimes God lets us ask for the impossible.

And He answers if it's needed at the time. The answers often require obedience before understanding.

You don't always know why. Faith is not waiting until everything makes sense.

Faith is doing it when it doesn't make any sense.

God invites participation. Obedience opens the door to understanding. Faith is stepping forward because God has spoken. Understanding often follows obedience, not the other way around.

Luke 11, 28, it says, blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it. You just do it.

Parents do that sometimes with kids. Why? Because. Just do it. God does that.

God's questions are personal. They expose motives, not just action. They invite repentance, faith, and obedience. They often leave answers up to the listener. You still have a choice sometimes. God's questions are not traps. Their invitation is to honesty, mirrors of the heart and the mind. God wants to know us. He calls us to repentance, to that faith and that trust.

From where are you in Genesis to do you love me in the Gospels, God's questions trace the entire story of human existence and redemption. God does not always answer the questions we ask, but He answers the questions we need answered. Even Jesus asks questions of God in prayer when He says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me and is it possible? May this cup pass from me?

He asked even though He knew what would be. These questions show a deep relationship, obedience and trust, even in agony. Like I said, sometimes you were delivered, sometimes prophets were killed. God is still the same God, same God of love. It's for His purpose, His will. It's a relationship that we must develop, just as Christ had with God. We must have that as well. Yes, you can ask questions. Keep asking Him. Don't stop. Ask God to teach you to trust Him, whether He answers clearly, quietly, or not at all. We have the answers we need and the questions and answers that God gives in His Word. All you have to do is read the book. They're there. They help you. What we want to know may not be there, but I assure you what we need to know is there.

It's in the book. Use it to help you have the patience to join those who are faithful in the past.

Father, are we there yet? No, Son, not yet, but soon.