I enjoyed this very informative message. I have wondered about this at times, whether or not it’s OK to question why things happen in people’s lives. I liked Billy Graham’s answer to a question from Larry King, during an interview sometime back, when Larry asked him why a certain thing or things are allowed to happen and Billy Graham answered something to the effect that “I don’t know but that’s something I intend to ask God when I see him.” Thank you so much for sharing this with us, John.
The Question about Questions
There is an interesting story in 2 Kings 4:8–37.
An aged couple, after years of not having any children, are miraculously given a bouncing baby boy.
At approximately 13 years of age the boy dies.
The prophet Elisha is used by God to raise the lad from the dead.
Between the child’s death and resurrection, while experiencing great heart ache and pain, the mother asks the prophet a series of questions. (Read 2 Kings 4:28.)
The mother is not confronted, corrected, or condemned for asking questions.
I believe every overwhelmed heart is full of questions.
Even a casual look at grief-stricken people in the Bible reveals that this is part of the human experience.
Jeremiah asked, “Why was I born?”
Job asked, “What did I do?”
Yeshua asked, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Many close to me are hurting. They are asking questions.
Instead of trying to give them answers, yesterday I stood behind the pulpit and told them, “It is okay to ask questions.”
The mother in our story did not get answers to her questions.
But she did get an answer to her unasked question: When I am hurting, is it okay to ask questions?
The answer she received was an emphatic “Yes!”
When you are in pain, what questions do you ask?
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