Have you ever encountered people of faith who think this way? Sadly, I have. I wouldn’t be surprised if they turned you off of considering a life of faith.
The frustrating thing is, many people of faith have not bothered to ask honest questions. Instead, if there are things they don’t understand, those things are just buried deep inside of them. And in turn, they want others to bury their questions, too.
And yet, the history is rife with people of faith asking God hard questions. Here are just a few from ancient writers:
- My God, why did you dump me miles from nowhere?
- Sometimes I ask God, ‘why did you let me down?’
- I counted on you, God. Why did you walk out on me?
Probably the most amazing and poignant hard question for God came from the lips of Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is God’s son. When Jesus’s enemies succeeded in having Him put to death on trumped-up charges, one of His last statements (as He hung on a Roman cross) was this anguished cry: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Call me crazy, but I think if Jesus can ask a question like that, then so can His followers — or any other person, for that matter.
I showed the meme that inspired this essay to a pastor friend. Here is Ross Carkner’s thoughtful response:
God is not afraid of our hard questions, but I can’t say that we feel the same way about His answers. I believe we are very afraid of His answers.
The mystery is not so much that God cannot be understood, but why we expect who He is to fit within our own understanding. When we have hard questions, we seem to expect easy and simplified answers.
Part of the deep mystery of God is that His ways are not our ways. If we want to know God, we need courage to set our own understanding aside and trade what has previously been a mystery, for faith in Him.
Since I became a Jesus follower in my 40s, I’ve had hard questions. And they’ve never gone away. But I know enough about God — about what He’s done for me and everyone else willing to accept the gift of His Son — to set those questions aside.
Ross was a big help in this. A few years ago, he had the wisdom to tell me that when I’m through with this life, all those hard questions simply won’t matter. They’ll be utterly irrelevant in the light of eternity in the presence of Jesus.
Do you have hard questions? Are they the reason — or the convenient excuse — you have not truly checked out what a life of faith in Jesus is all about? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.
Frank's Cottage 
I’ve certainly had my fair share of questions and doubts over the years, and I’m grateful to have a pastor who doesn’t discourage us from airing our uncertainties to God. He is certainly big enough to take it! I do love what Ross said about the hard questions not mattering once we stand before the throne. Thanks for this thought-provoking post, Frank! Blessings!
Glad you enjoyed the essay, Martha. 🙂
I finally read your post. Good for you.
Thanks for reading, Silva. I appreciate it. 🙂
I have a hard question. Can you please fully explain the Virgin Birth as it is written in Matthew and explain why the writer lifted/plagiarized this prophecy from Isaiah?
Also, as this prophecy relates specifically to King Ahaz – as the rest of the chapter explains – why did Christians feel the need to concoct the fraudulent ”dual prophecy”?
Also, when world renowned theologian Raymond Brown is on record stating that this must not be seen a literal understanding why do so many Christians still believe this nonsense?
I consider this a ”hard question” yet, to date, I have never had a Christian offer an honest answer.
Maybe you can, Frank?
You’ve already spent more time on this question than I have. I have no explanation and I don’t care about it. How on earth does a question like this affect my faith in Christ? In my humble opinion, this is a time-wasting rabbit trail.
Because it is obvious the writer of Matthew was intent on ensuring the Messianic prophecy applied to the character Jesus of Nazareth and this was the closest he could get.
Problem was ,he likely didn’t understand the passage well enough.
In short. There was no Virgin Birth.It is simply another piece of erroneous nonsense.
And that is why it is important. Your faith in Christ is simply based upon erroneous doctrine.
A lie, in other words.
Thanks for your opinion. Sadly, we’ve exhausted all the “conversation” possibilities. Goodbye. 😦