How prepared are you to answer questions about your faith? As challenging as that can be, I find that most people share similar questions. In fact, often the best way to find the answer is to ask your own questions. Christianity has always invited questions. Jesus told His followers to ask. He said, “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)
God is not threatened by our questions. Peter tells us to …
1 Peter 3:15 “… always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect …”
The truth is, God wants us to ask our questions. He longs for us to bring our doubts and fears to Him, and even our frustrations. It’s good to ask questions because they make our faith personal and real. It’s not enough to just know what we believe. We need to know why we believe what we believe. Just knowing what you believe may leave you with a second-hand faith. Knowing why you believe gives you a firsthand faith.
From his death bed, King David wanted his son to have a personal and real faith of his own. One of the three charges he gave Solomon as he passed on the throne to him was for Solomon to know the God of his father as his own God. We need a firsthand faith of our own when life’s trials and tests come if we are to stand strong and secure.
Questions also lead us to wisdom and humility. It’s humbling to admit we don’t know something. Questions open the door for wisdom and knowledge we didn’t possess before we asked them.
I personally have more respect for an agnostic than an atheist. An atheist claims there is no God. The Psalmist had a comment about that in Psalm14:1 – “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” To say there is no God presumes I possess all knowledge and have searched the entire cosmos and discovered by my complete and exhaustive investigation that there is no God. By definition, that would make me God – one who is omnipresent and omniscient! How foolish!
At least the agnostic admits he doesn’t really know. But if that agnostic would do an honest and intellectual search, as so many others have done, God would open their heart and mind to the reality of His love and presence.
Questions are also good because they reflect a healthy view of God. Faith is not a blind leap in the dark. It is a step in the light of truth.
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. …”
You don’t commit intellectual suicide when you become a Christian. Faith doesn’t deny the facts. It is not irrational. Faith is supra-rational. It doesn’t go against reason. It just goes beyond it!
God invites your questions. Don’t be afraid to ask Him, to search the Scriptures, and seek understanding.
Proverbs 2:6 “For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”