Questions of God: When God asks a question

I was leading a small group in worship, and in the middle of all that goes on in the fray of this, I began to be flooded with several scriptures that were all times when God spoke in the form of a question: 

Isaiah 6:8  Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”  And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

           Isaiah. 46:5 “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal

          And compare Me, that we should be alike?

Matthew 16:13  When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 

Genesis 3:9  Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where areyou?” 

John 14:9  Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Isaiah 45:9-10 “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’

Luke 18:8 …when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

Ezekiel 18:25  “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?

My mind was flooded with all of these questions, and even more, times when God asked questions of men, of us. I have often said that it is a sad time when a person has no questions in their heart, no things they are seeking to know at a greater depth. To have questions is to be alive to new possibilities, to be in a state of growth in grace. It is a dangerous space to be in where all questions are quelled, a place of spiritual internment, a concentration camp of the soul. Which reminds me…

One day I was sitting down to a wonderful dinner of ham and cheese hot pockets and a Dr. Pepper, when I decided to turn on the tube and catch an episode of the Simpsons. Being a fan, I always like to pay attention to the opening montage, because there is always something different in each episode. So, in this particular episode, you can see inside the window of the classroom where Bart is being kept after school in detention, and on the chalkboard he is writing “I have neither been there nor done that,” over and over again as punishment. As soon as I saw that phrase, “I have neither been there nor done that,” I felt God give me one of those jolts of insight He is famous for. I heard Him say “It is a dangerous state of mind to be in to have the idea that you have somehow arrived and have “been there and done that.” People with this heart attitude have not arrived, they have missed the train altogether. Always be open to more experience in Me, more wisdom, more strength, more love, more grace, more power, more fun. There is always more in Me. You will never be able to say, “been there, done that.” There is always more in Me.

Many feel a great weight upon them of questions they feel must be answered before they can trust God, or move to the next level in their own lives. Somewhere in their heart is a demand for an answer, a demand for accountability, a desire to see justice, to understand the “why” of life, existence, and pain. These questions are real, they are filled with deep existential angst, and they drive many of us to a search for meaning beyond the day to day search for the fulfillment of our mere immediate needs. The search is a real one, filled with questions. 

Could it be that God has questions of us? Could it be that the real great question isn’t “Do you believe in God? ” but rather, does God believe in you?

(from JavaJazzJesus)