He is the Answer

Kata Tjuta & King's Canyon, NT, Australia

Sometimes there aren’t answers. Call it maturity, maybe, I’ve been realizing there aren’t answers to every question. There are grey areas of faith that have to be wrestled out personally, between us and God. Sometimes there isn’t a ‘thou shalt’ or ‘thou shalt not.’

One of the biggest things about growing up is coming to your own beliefs and understanding. We’ve all been brought up to see the world, God, what we should and shouldn’t do, a certain way. And even if these things are great and true, they are meaningless unless we claim them for our own. Now is the time we take things on, alter some to fit our experience, and leave some behind. 

It’s healthy; it’s a necessary part of growing up and becoming our own people. But it’s also hard. I look at my friends, and we’re all going through the same thing. We’re changing. Some I now have less in common with, and whether it’s right or wrong, it’s sad to lose that. Some I have more in common with and it’s a blessing to connect more deeply with them. 

I’ve been wrestling with questions too. I see the choices others make, I observe the world around, and I notice I’m changing too. I’m an independent thinker, which I’m grateful for, but it leads me to want to know everything. I want the answers to the dilemmas I have, I want solutions to everyone’s problems, and I want to understand why people do what they do. Maybe then, I’ll be able to form conclusions. 

The verse in Matthew which says ‘seek and ye shall find’ came to mind when I was thinking about this. Didn’t Jesus promise answers? There are answers I’ve been looking for years, and I can’t find them. So, I opened my concordance to ‘seek,’ looking for a verse I thought I knew. But look what I found instead:

But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. Deut 4:29

And thou, Solomon my son, know the God of thy Father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee… 1 Chron 28:9

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jer 29:13

The Bible is talking about something much deeper. God doesn’t always give us all answers and knowledge. Interestingly, that’s what Satan promised in the very first temptation. He zoned in on our idea that to know everything would be like being God. But God is far more than knowledge and information, a big Father Google. He is love, He is peace, He is joy – and ultimately, isn’t that what we’re looking for? I don’t want the answers to my questions as much as I want peace from restlessness. Knowing without rest would only prompt another question. But knowing Jesus hits the root. Yes, I may not know what I think I need to, but I can have rest and contentment anyway. I might not understand why, but I can have peace and even joy. I may not have endless information, but I can have Jesus. That’s the promise. Seek and you will find God. Not necessarily explanations or logic, but God. It looks like I’ve been searching for the wrong thing.

Isn’t it precious to think about? God could give answers – He does give much wisdom and knowledge. He could satisfy our theoretical wonderings and leave it there, but no, He gives Himself. He sees us seeking, searching, wondering, questioning, and he comes to us Himself. 

Here’s the challenge for me, and maybe for you too. If, after all my searching, I find God, will that be enough? Will I allow His presence and majesty to swallow the questions? Will I let His rest calm the striving and desperation to know?

Some things haven’t changed since the Garden of Eden. I still want to know good and evil, but God still wants to share His heart with us in the cool of the evening too. I’m learning that is enough. Next time I get discouraged after praying for answers, and all I feel is the whisper of His voice telling me to draw closer, I want to see it for what it is: an invitation for communion with the Master Creator and Lord of all, who is Himself the answer. As C. S. Lewis said: 

I know no, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice?

~

Have you struggled with unanswerable questions? What do you think their purpose is? How have you found this growing-up stage of life? I pray we can all receive our questions and doubts as an invitation to come and know God more deeply. xx 

P.s I listened to this song again today, and I thought the second verse was especially relevant. Love is the answer.