Thursday Read: Wrestling with Unanswered Questions

Job demanded answers from God for 37 chapters. His suffering made no sense - he'd lost everything despite living righteously. His friends offered theological explanations that were neat, logical, and completely wrong. Job rejected their simplistic formulas and insisted on an audience with God himself. When God finally responded, he didn't explain Job's suffering. Instead, he asked questions: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" (Job 38:4). God never answered Job's "why" - he revealed his "who."

We live in a culture that demands explanations for everything. We expect God to justify his decisions, clarify his timing, and make sense of our circumstances. When prayers go unanswered, we assume we've failed somehow. When tragedy strikes, we torture ourselves with "why" questions. When God seems silent, we spiral into doubt. But biblical faith doesn't require complete understanding - it requires complete trust.

Abraham didn't understand why God would command him to sacrifice Isaac, the very son through whom God's promises were supposed to be fulfilled. The contradiction was absolute, the command seemingly opposed to everything God had promised. Yet "by faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac" (Hebrews 11:17). He trusted God's character when he couldn't understand God's command.

Moses spent forty years in the desert wondering why his attempt to deliver Israel had failed so spectacularly. Joseph spent years in prison for a crime he didn't commit with no explanation of God's purpose. David was anointed king but spent years running for his life from Saul. None of them received detailed explanations during their trials. They simply had to trust that God was working even when circumstances suggested otherwise.

Paul discovered this principle through his unanswered prayer for healing. Three times he begged God to remove his thorn in the flesh. God's response wasn't explanation - it was assurance: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Sometimes God's answer to our "why" is simply "trust me."

What unanswered questions are shaking your faith right now? What circumstances demand explanations that God hasn't provided? Faith doesn't mean having all the answers - it means trusting the One who does. You don't need to understand God's ways; you need to trust God's heart. The same God who asked Job those impossible questions is asking you today: Do you trust me enough to follow me even when you don't understand me?