Skip to main content

It IS a Good Question

"Why hasn't God made it better?"

I was explaining Alzheimer's to my kids. The question came from my 7-year old. At the moment, I'm glad I'm not God and don't have to answer.

Of course, I don't want to be the person pointing a finger at the Almighty, asking Him when He intends to get around to this matter.

I will admit, however, that it is a good question. My 7-year old is not the first person to ask the question and she won't be the last. Though an argument could be made that she is the cutest. And she asked it with pure sincerity. 

Many people have taken more time than I have lived and more space than my silly blog to answer this question. I've taken the time to read some of those answers, as I'm sure you have. Some of the answers are questionable. Some of the answers are great and lead to deeper faith. Many of them could be much shorter, like that of my 10-year old son, "God makes good things out of hard roads."

I think asking the question is a good thing. If we're asking the question, it means we recognize that not all is right in this world. It means we acknowledge things that are not good, as God created them to be. It even should bring us to the point of considering what we can do to make things better.

I think answering the question is good as well. If we were to continually stick our heads in the sand and offer nothing more than shallow and empty well wishes, we would be no better than the people James talked about, who wished a brother well but did nothing to help. Answers lead to more questions, which lead to better questions. 

But better than both is spending time asking God the question, and allowing Him the time and space to answer, or not, as He wants. 

After all, He is God. And we're not.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Studies on the Go...Genesis

To be honest, I had not heard of Studies On The Go before being offered a review copy by my god friends at Youth Worker. But since I’m always looking out for study ideas, I said yes to this opportunity. Studies On The Go by Laurie Polich-Short has 30 studies. This particular edition is on the book of Genesis. Any book of the Bible can be daunting when you’re trying to interest and impact teenagers. But Genesis increases that difficulty due to the many questions that arise on the topic of creation. On top of that, you have the many stories of questionable characters that we often call heroes of the faith. Each study comes with great questions, not mindless Sunday School questions where every answer is Jesus. They also come with an optional activity to take the lesson a step further and create true impact. Add to that a weekly plan for students to go deeper and you have a winner of a study in one little book. If all the book studies are as well done as this one, I’d ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Capable Of?

I fancy myself to be just like Batman...without the money, the cave, the vendetta, the car and the cool belt. Other than that, we're pretty much the same guy. Does it help my case that I have a boy wonder? It's my son, but I'd take him over a dude in green tights any day. I've also imagined myself to be similar to Superman...you know, but without the super strength, speed, or that thing he can do with his eyes. Oh, and I'm also not from another planet. But he was a reporter and I like to write, though that hasn't been proven much by my blog. At least, not compared to what I used to write. The first time I write this post, it sounded like an apology. But that's not really the message I want to convey. Yes, I wish I were posting more. I also wish I had super strength or a cool utility belt, but those things aren't happening right now either. Maybe some day . The truth is I have been keeping busy. I'm not sitting back, sipping lemonade. I've never c...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...
5 comments
Read more