The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 29:29 (NKJV)
My parents died when I was relatively young. I became a Christian when I was 22 and just one year later I was with my mum in the hospital when she died after a long illness aged just 58. Two years after that, my dad died very suddenly of a heart attack and he was 64. He’d actually remarried but the new marriage had only lasted a mere eight months. Many times since then I’ve asked the question ‘Why?’ as I’ve reflected on the implications of their early deaths. There’s been so many aspects of my life that I would have loved to have shared with them, seeing my kids grow up, enjoying her great cooking, things I needed to tell them etc. We probably all have those kind of questions, sometimes to do with our own personal situation, sometimes to do with wider issues, for example, why are certain people in certain places having to suffer so much?
Asking questions of God is a healthy thing to do and many times in the Bible we’re positively encouraged to do so; indeed, it’s part of learning and growing in our faith. But what’s important is the attitude in which we ask. We can ask with an arrogance that says “I want to know… I have a right to know…” or we can ask with a humility that recognises that there are some things that belong in the category – ‘the secret things’ – things that we may never know or understand. There are some things that not even the greatest brains on the planet will ever find out because God’s decreed them ‘the secret things’. However, he’s also chosen to reveal certain things to us and, where this is the case, then we can claim them as really belonging to us – even to the extent of passing them on to the next generation through our children.
Deuteronomy tells us something very fundamental about God’s character. We know that He is all-knowing; now we know that, in His wisdom, He chooses to keep some things to Himself – which at times might frustrate us, yet on the other hand, it can also reassure us that God knows what’s best for us – to know or not to know. To this day, I don’t know why my mum and dad died at such an early stage but I feel secure in the knowledge that, despite not having answers, I can trust Him and let the situation go.
DetailsLarry
May 25th, 2007
3 Responses to “Down2Earth: 2. Asking Questions”
Leave a Reply
May 27th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
So how do we ask such questions?
May 28th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I have so many questions…and I’m not sure I’m ever going to get answers to any of them.
Do you think God will answer our questions in Heaven?
I like the idea that God has secrets too! I like that verse! I’ve been thinking about it for a few days now and I’ve progressed from feeling its a bad thing..Why doesn’t God tell us…to a comforting thing…It wont do you any good even if you know, so I’m not telling you!!
Keep up the good work Guys!!
May 29th, 2007 at 12:23 am
I think our questions will be answered in heaven but without us having to do any more asking - i.e. all things will be revealed and become clear to us - that’s just a personal opinion.
When God holds back from revealing things to us, we can only move forward by trusting Him - and trust requires a certain humility, a quality He values as very precious. At times, it’s a hard journey this Christian life, but then i guess Jesus said as much, so hang in there!