I've Been Thinking / Spirituality

Got Questions?

“I don’t have any answers. I just have my questions.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien

When Answers Came Too Easily

When I was a child growing up in church, the kids were called forward to listen to a story.
At times, questions were asked.

Almost inevitably, one of us would call out the answer. It was the appropriate answer, and the only one.

And it was this: “Jesus.”

In the last few years, I’ve come to call this the “Jesus band-aid.”
Something we often, carelessly or with little thought, tend to apply quickly to problems that do not resolve easily or are simply too big for us to wrap our heads around.

Lately, I find the world overwhelming.
So many crises.

And so much upheaval.

Every time, we open our phones or turn on the news, there are new and terrible things happening.

Living with the Weight of it All

In truth, I crave order. I love safety, certainty, and stability.
And it feels like we are getting very little of that.

I want to know that my children and my grandchild are going to be okay.
That they are on solid ground.
And that their future is not at risk.

Is that too much to ask?

Honestly, let this madness stop.

But still, each day brings new challenges.

And so, I breathe deeply.
Plant my feet on the floor.
Look around me.

I see Dan, and Molly.
My beautiful poinsettia in the window.

I hear the wind blow and see the snowflakes whipped around, sometimes in a frenzy and then gently falling.

Here I pause, and I focus on this moment.

And then, I recall that Jesus did not promise me a trouble-free life at all. In fact, He said the opposite:
“In this world you will have trouble…” (John 16:33a)

Courage, Not Quick Fixes

His name is not one to be bandied about.

His name is
not a magical incantation.

Poof.

And everything is fine.

Yet back in John, He ended His sentence with this:
“But take courage! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b)

Even so, this is not instantaneous relief.

By definition, courage is strength in the face of pain or grief or trouble.

Courage is carrying on in the “even if” that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego lived in the face of the fire that threatened their lives. (Daniel 3:18)

So let the questions come.

And, cry out with Job.
Wrestle like Jacob.
Agonize in the garden of Gethsemane like Jesus.
Go into the wilderness with Hagar.

You see, there is no shame in any of it.

He hears us.
He also sees us.
He knows us.

And He has been there.

After all, what more poignant cry than this:
“Take this cup from me. Yet not my will, but yours.” (Luke 22:42)

Standing on the Rock

And yet, when the rain comes down, and the streams rise, and the wind blows, the house stands.
It is built on the Rock. (Matthew 7:24–27)

There are no easy, or even adequate, answers for all the turmoil around us.

We cannot name and claim our way out of disaster.

And although the name of Jesus is no band-aid, it is still, as the old hymn says,
“The sweetest name I know.”

I can go to Him for shelter.
My Rock.
My Fortress.
My Comforter.

And there, in His presence, I lay my questions down.

Because He has promised to hold me, sustain me, and carry me.

Come what may.