The Ways of the Whys/Wise
The Ways of the Whys/Wise
Asking vs questioning
I have two daughters. The younger one is a little too young for this at the time of writing, but the older one has hit the age of the whys really hard. In fact, I think her favorite word right now is why. And like any good parent I do the best I can to give her an explanation. Which, inevitably, leads to another why. Which I answer. Which leads to another why. And on and on until I become the frustrated parent and either leave it at "because" or "because I said so". And before you cast judgement on my parenting or lack of patience, I’m not alone in this. Trust me, I’ve asked.
Wondering why is not left solely to our children when their brains are like little sponges and they want to know everything. Wondering why hits adults pretty hard too. We’ve all wondered why when it comes to the difficult and sometimes unanswerable questions of life. You know, those “why did God do” or “why did God allow” questions.
Why certainly has its place in life and theology. Why is how we learn. Why is how we understand. Our finite minds don’t really like infinite things because we can’t fully know and/or understand them. Like certain shows or movies that are open-ended when the credits roll and we have to make up a conclusion for ourselves and then argue about it with other people.
So we wonder… And we ask why…
The whys of life can make you wise to life. But too much wonder can make you wander. Sometimes the why is the way to wisdom. Sometimes it’s the way to wandering.
Let me explain…
I don’t mean the kind of wonder that leaves you speechless when you’re fully in the presence of God that leaves you in absolute awe and wonder. I mean the kind of wonder that makes you question instead of ask.
Asking seeks answers. Asking seeks information.
Questioning is combative. Questioning is contentious.
Asking leads to wisdom. Questioning leads to wander.
It’s human nature to ask and seek. It’s also human nature to question. With the vastness of the internet, there isn’t a question that has ever been thought of that doesn’t have some kind of answer. Don’t be careful about the questions that you ask. Be careful of where you look for the answer. You will absolutely find an answer so be careful where you look. And be careful how you ask. So don’t be careful what you ask - be careful where you look…
What’s the posture of your heart when you ask? Or question. Is it to seek answers? Or to argue and possibly justify your own answers?
Oftentimes God doesn’t give us the why. Sometimes we find out the why later. Sometimes we don’t need to know the why. Sometimes He’s looking for obedience through faith regardless of the why.
If you need to know the whys before you obey then you aren’t exercising your faith you’re simply following information. The starting line for wisdom is fearing God (Proverbs 9:10). Fearing God isn’t being afraid of God it’s afraid of being without God. This little twist helps me to ask instead of question when I don’t know something. Or when God is asking me to step out on faith.
A huge element of Christianity is faith. The more we develop it, the longer the leap and the shorter the landing pad. Faith is believing while not seeing. When we take a step, God moves the next one further.
If we always need to know the why first we will never deepen both our wisdom and faith. We will be like a boat sitting in the harbor when boats were made for the rough open seas. And when the boat gets rocking, Jesus will call you out of the boat to walk over the storm. This is the crossroad of wisdom, faith, and obedience.
So where is your boat today? Safe in the harbor where it’s calm and quiet? Or out in the rough seas where it’s dangerous and loud? Either way, maybe Jesus is calling you out. Out to where He is.
Asking vs questioning
I have two daughters. The younger one is a little too young for this at the time of writing, but the older one has hit the age of the whys really hard. In fact, I think her favorite word right now is why. And like any good parent I do the best I can to give her an explanation. Which, inevitably, leads to another why. Which I answer. Which leads to another why. And on and on until I become the frustrated parent and either leave it at "because" or "because I said so". And before you cast judgement on my parenting or lack of patience, I’m not alone in this. Trust me, I’ve asked.
Wondering why is not left solely to our children when their brains are like little sponges and they want to know everything. Wondering why hits adults pretty hard too. We’ve all wondered why when it comes to the difficult and sometimes unanswerable questions of life. You know, those “why did God do” or “why did God allow” questions.
Why certainly has its place in life and theology. Why is how we learn. Why is how we understand. Our finite minds don’t really like infinite things because we can’t fully know and/or understand them. Like certain shows or movies that are open-ended when the credits roll and we have to make up a conclusion for ourselves and then argue about it with other people.
So we wonder… And we ask why…
The whys of life can make you wise to life. But too much wonder can make you wander. Sometimes the why is the way to wisdom. Sometimes it’s the way to wandering.
Let me explain…
I don’t mean the kind of wonder that leaves you speechless when you’re fully in the presence of God that leaves you in absolute awe and wonder. I mean the kind of wonder that makes you question instead of ask.
Asking seeks answers. Asking seeks information.
Questioning is combative. Questioning is contentious.
Asking leads to wisdom. Questioning leads to wander.
It’s human nature to ask and seek. It’s also human nature to question. With the vastness of the internet, there isn’t a question that has ever been thought of that doesn’t have some kind of answer. Don’t be careful about the questions that you ask. Be careful of where you look for the answer. You will absolutely find an answer so be careful where you look. And be careful how you ask. So don’t be careful what you ask - be careful where you look…
What’s the posture of your heart when you ask? Or question. Is it to seek answers? Or to argue and possibly justify your own answers?
Oftentimes God doesn’t give us the why. Sometimes we find out the why later. Sometimes we don’t need to know the why. Sometimes He’s looking for obedience through faith regardless of the why.
If you need to know the whys before you obey then you aren’t exercising your faith you’re simply following information. The starting line for wisdom is fearing God (Proverbs 9:10). Fearing God isn’t being afraid of God it’s afraid of being without God. This little twist helps me to ask instead of question when I don’t know something. Or when God is asking me to step out on faith.
A huge element of Christianity is faith. The more we develop it, the longer the leap and the shorter the landing pad. Faith is believing while not seeing. When we take a step, God moves the next one further.
If we always need to know the why first we will never deepen both our wisdom and faith. We will be like a boat sitting in the harbor when boats were made for the rough open seas. And when the boat gets rocking, Jesus will call you out of the boat to walk over the storm. This is the crossroad of wisdom, faith, and obedience.
So where is your boat today? Safe in the harbor where it’s calm and quiet? Or out in the rough seas where it’s dangerous and loud? Either way, maybe Jesus is calling you out. Out to where He is.
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2 Comments
Good points, especially when you're talking about the difference between questioning versus asking. I think when we question, we're going to God and not really wanting His answer anyway. Like you said, maybe we want to justify ourselves, or maybe we've already decided what His answer is or what we want it to be. When we ASK, we're expectant and trust the One we're asking, and we're ok waiting (probably even more ok than the 6 year old who's just waiting to ask the next why ;) ). Thanks for the reminder to not just consider what we're asking, but HOW.
I have been learning from the why ,the answers are alot in our acting on and our heart issues thank you for sharing your time and insight Have a blessed and merry Christmas.