I was struck this week by the importance of going to God with more than questions…
Asking questions and generally choosing curiosity over certainty is something I really value and think is an important shift for Christians to make.
Especially those of us who have been Christians for many years!
Our tendency can often be to rehearse certainty and to remind ourselves of what we know to be true. Which can be really great and faith-building in a lot of situations… in other times and places, however, it can actually block us from growing in our experience with God and stunt our spiritual sensitivity.
Lately, I’ve been going to the Lord with a lot of questions. I’ve been seeking direction, advice and answers… I’ve been wrestling with confusion and studying areas of my life that have left me feeling perplexed.
In some ways, that’s wonderful! If someone told me that they were going to God with lots of questions I would say, “AMAZING!! Keep doing that!!” And if you’ve been at Lifespring for even a short amount of time, you’ve likely heard us encouraging Listening Prayer, which is literally all about bringing our questions before God and listening for what it is that he is speaking to us about those things.
All of this is very, very good!!
And yet I sensed the Spirit nudging me away from asking questions and encouraging me to simply be.
The Lord began to show me that lately I’ve been going to God for answers instead of actually going to God simply because I love him.
At some point in the past few months, something in me began to default back into a more transactional view of God…
Whether it looks like going to him because I don’t understand something and need his guidance or because I need to receive more love or more forgiveness… ultimately, I was going to God because I knew he had something that I needed. Which, at its best, is beautiful and true!
But the Lord was challenging me to draw near simply because I love him.
With no strings attached.
Even though I was going to the Lord with my questions, understanding my life and seeking to know what’s going on had actually become something that was leading me further away from God.
A mentor of mine would often remind me that “we were created as human BE-ings, not human DO-ings”. Not only does that mean we need to rest and be, I think it also means we need to go to God simply to be with the one who created us in the first place! To reconnect with our source of Life.
There is a time for everything…
A time to ask questions and seek direction,
and a time to sit with our Father and know that we are loved.
A time to rest in the fact God promised never to leave us,
and a time to remember we are not alone in our questions and unanswered dilemmas.