“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9NIV
Children ask the best questions because they’re honest and say exactly what they think, even if it’s completely off track. Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we cringe. Their complicated questions can make us want to evaporate from embarrassment or from a lack of not knowing exactly how to respond.
Questions like,
“Mom, why isn’t Dad coming home?”
“How come (s)he is always so mean?
“Why does that (wo)man look strange?”
“How come Fluffy isn’t going to wake up anymore?”
“Did Jesus take Papa to live with Him?”
“Why did (s)he do those things to me?”
Those are heavy questions so how do we know what the right response should be? If we are to guide, instruct, coach, and prepare our children for the big wild world, how much is enough and how much is too much?
Big questions always bring on a deep inhale, then exhale. I can’t help but have additional questions in response. How much do they truly need to know? What amount can they genuinely handle? What exactly are they asking? Do they even know the meaning behind the words they’re using?
I begin to pray under my breath. I want to give the exact amount of information based on their age and maturity.
I’m not trying to be complicated, but they don’t need the full picture on an adult level. What do I expect them to do with all that info? At what point does it become more than they can process? Give them an overload of information, and they’ll try to fit the pieces together and, most likely, end up with incorrect assumptions. They’ll take that incorrect answer and weave it into the fabric of who they are, creating a lens through which they’ll look at life.
Questions from any child can seem to spring more from their age and lack of understanding about life, but aren’t their questions rooted in the same curiosity, pain, and need for stability as adults?
I can’t help but feel that, if we look past the surface of the adult facade, what we’ll really see is a little girl trying to make sense of her world.
I asked Christ to live in my heart when I was 13 years old. I have had many, many daytime, late night, early dawn-to-dusk conversations. Many-a-night I’ve slept with my cheek against a tear stained pillowcase. I’ve asked some of the same questions you have, and I’ve struggled with His answers.
God’s blessings bring us joy but sometimes His blessings feel like a curse. His protection keeps us safe yet at times it is shrouded in unexplainable suffering. We’ve chosen God but we still endure hardship. He’s a loving God that allows pain and suffering.
Even in the reference to allowing pain and suffering, the word allow seems misguided. After all, wasn’t it us, humans, who ushered in the knowledge of good and evil? Didn’t we want to be like God and know the things He knew? In our desire to have God’s answers we unwittingly invited pain and suffering.
Because what Adam and Eve didn’t realize was that the inside information they craved would be more than they could process. They were in over their heads because they introduced a new reality where not only would they, but every generation after them would be caught in a constant struggle between two forces.
Much to their dismay they realized God wasn’t keeping anything from them. He was protecting them because only He has the power and authority over evil. To us, it is a burden we are unqualified to wrestle with and without Him we are helpless in the fight.
Yet we can find ourselves choosing to struggle in our own strength, making incorrect assumptions that keep us in cycles of abuse or lack. We fail to understand the enemy who seeks to kill us, steal from us and destroy us and that can cost us. Dearly. Left to our own strengths for the battle, it can result in mental illness, emotional and/or mental beatings, addictions, self-medicating etc.
No matter your age, I am confident you have some complicated questions that deserve honest answers. I want you to know that you will never offend God with a question. Even when I’ve been angry and demanded answers, He was still kind and patient.
I’ve pushed the limits and taken advantage of His love, mercy, and grace. My walk has been full of mistakes, failures, and regrets, but He has never pushed me away or turned His back.
Sweet woman, ask your questions. Wait, listen, read His word and just when you think He doesn’t see you or hear you, don’t give up. Lean in closer. God is not a man that He would be complicated or confusing. Quite the contrary, He’s being merciful.
NOW LIVE LOVED and THRIVE!
Self-Reflection
These questions are in no way a substitute for healthcare professionals or any level of professional counseling. I’m an advocate for taking care of oneself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These questions reflect my heart, NOT my profession.
This questionnaire is an opportunity to journal your thoughts and feelings. It can serve as a launching pad on which to evaluate your heart condition as you understand it. My hope is that you will take the truths you discover about yourself and hold them up to the Light to evaluate them against who God says you are.
- Are you waiting on God to answer a question?
- If yes, what is your question and what are you hoping the answer will be?
- Do you feel He has forgotten you or does not care to answer?
- What, if anything, do you feel God is withholding from you?
- Why do you suppose a good God would keep that from you?
- If indeed this good God is withholding your answer, in what way do you imagine He is being merciful or protective?
- Does your reason line up with the character of God?
- Write down a verse that supports why you feel it does or does not.
Talk to God about your answers. Give Him praise, ask Him questions and then listen for His gentle response.
Take Action
Use God’s word to take control over the traumas in your life. Whenever you feel terrorized by your thoughts take them captive by replacing them with the truth of God’s promises in His word.
Here is a scripture for you to print, cut and carry with you and/or post in places where you will see it often. Ground yourself in God’s truths not Satan’s attacks. Encourage your heart and mind every time you are reminded of His great love for YOU!
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”—Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
Read God’s Word and say to yourself:
God knows things I have no way of knowing, and He understands things I’m not able to comprehend. He has authority that I do not and He reigns supreme over anything I will face. Because of His wisdom and revelation, truth and knowledge, discernment and understanding, He gives me what I need when I need it. He’s the good Father who protects His daughters. He does not expect us to understand His ways but rather He wants us to know His heart.
