When Your Answers About Faith Bring More Questions Than Comfort

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.  Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat.  But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us!  We’re going to drown!”  Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid?  You have so little faith!”  Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.  The disciples were amazed.  “Who is this man?” they asked.  “Even the winds and waves obey him!”  

Matthew 8:23-27

Among the disciples were fishermen like Peter, accustomed to storms, even the fierce ones.  They were familiar with violent storms which are not uncommon on the lake, as winds can rush in suddenly from the west or the east and generate waves over 10 feet high.[1]  If you fished the sea of Galilee, you learned not to stress over storms.  But this storm was more than enough to have the disciples wish they’d stayed ashore, or at least checked to see if their wills were up-to-date.  They thought they were on the brink of joining their buried ancestors. 

And there was their leader, Jesus, sleeping like a baby in the back of the boat.  What a time for a nap! 

Mark’s Gospel account showed how much this event overwhelmed him.  Normally Mark wrote just the facts…quick and to the point.  But of this Mark adds emphatic pathos, details of just how scared they were:

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.  The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”  Mark 4:38

From Matthew we get the sense of their faith – when they were at wits-end they went to the One they knew had answers.  From Mark, we get the sense of insecurity they had – did Jesus not care?  From both disciple’s accounts we see the answer…Jesus told the winds and 10-feet-high waves to HUSH!  And they did!  And Matthew records what that did to the disciples…Jesus’ answer brought more questions:  Who…and What…kind of man is this?

Perhaps you’ve been in that kind of situation.  You were in trouble, physically, emotionally, financially, or a relationship on the rocks.  You were drowning in some way, so you cried-out to God, and an answer showed up.  You were grateful for the rescue, but when the dust settled, all you could do was ruminate on the reasons why – why did this happen to you?  What – what was God thinking to put you through that?  When – when is life going to be normal?  How – how am I ever going to get to where I really want to be? 

It’s like the disciples experienced; Jesus had the answers, but they brought more questions than comfort.  They were uneasy enough to ask the question (what kind of man this is), but they did have that little spark of faith to row back to land, and put one foot in front of the other, and continue following Jesus. 

After the cross and resurrection, we find that faith grew into the power of God in their lives, which changed the course of history.  And being in the boat with the source of that power, on that night, with all nerves stretching their faith to the limit (and beyond), they knew it was real.

For You Today 

Today’s faith will be enough for today’s storms…as long as you stay in the boat with Jesus.  He’s a better weather-man than any you’ve seen on TV!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library. 

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee, Copyright © 2020 by David P. Barrett. 

Why, Lord?

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As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.”  So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed).  But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.  Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.  The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”  When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence!  Be still!”  Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.  Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid?  Do you still have no faith?”  Mark 4: 39

Quiet?  Be still?  The storm on the waters of that day may have listened to Jesus’ command.  For many of us our hearts have been anything but quiet and still since September 11^th eighteen years ago.  On that bright Tuesday morning in September enemies slipped aboard three planes gathering the storm clouds that would bring destruction to our shores. 

In 30 A.D. the Satanic storm that wanted to destroy Jesus and his disciples became a stretching of their faith, much like we all were tested with Satan’s fear-spreading on 9/11. 

Truth be known, I dread anniversaries like 9/11.  As the media barrages us with the impending memorials and commemorations I want to be quiet.  I feel the storm surge rise within me.  All the submerged feelings of grief, loss, and anger come to the surface:

   anger surfaces as I watch the television broadcasts

   the shadow of fear surfaces as I remember we live in a different, more dangerous world

   frustration wants to overwhelm me because of unanswered questions of why and when will this all be repaid and when will it ever stop. 

I ask in my inner need for justice, when will the hurt go away for Elizabeth’s cousin John who was working in the building down the street when the second plane zoomed overhead and plowed into the South Tower?

I want to know when will the nightmares cease for the children of diplomats my brother was teaching that day because they never got to say goodbye to their parents?

When will the grieving cease for the father and children who were only 2 and 1 years old, when their Flight Attendant mother, 38 year old Sandy Bradshaw, took part in the attempt to gain control from the terrorists on Flight 93 that day?

The questions renew every time there is a violent takeover, a mass-shooting, or new deployment.  Why, Lord?

There is a story in one of Elie Wiesel’s books of a man, a crazy little Jewish man.  He lived in Europe during the Second World War.  When the Nazis invaded he went into hiding in his little town.  When it was safe to come out he ran to the local synagogue, looked upward and shouted, You see, God, we are still here!  Throughout the occupation and holocaust sufferings this crazy little Jewish man is in hiding, emerging periodically to shout to God, You see, we are still here. 

Finally, the man finds himself alone, the last surviving Jew in his little village.  He enters the synagogue, looks up at the ceiling and whispers, You see, God, I’m still here.”  And then he adds, but, you, God, where are You?

Why, Lord usually turns into where ARE you, Lord?  The question we have is no different…Why, Lord…and Where Were You, Anyway?

The answer, our answer, is not the kind that takes the sting away from tragedy and loss.  Our answer is almost as perplexing as the evil deed.

Where was God on September 11, 2001?

God was in the same place He was when Job got clobbered.  Job would have made a wonderful capitalist American citizen.  He was God-fearing, rich, respected and well-loved in his community.  All the Methodist churches would have put Job on the Administrative Council and Trustee boards. 

He was also Satan’s target. 

And God, sitting on the sovereign throne of eternity, watched:

   as marauding Sabeans captured Job’s servants and possessions 

   as a lightning bolt took out his herds of sheep and shepherds

   as the Chaldeans killed his servants and stole his camels

   and as Job’s sons and daughters and their families were having a family meal together, and a twister demolished the house killing all of them.

God was in heaven, watching.

Where was God September 11, 2001?

God was in the same place watching His own son:

   when he hung on the cross,

   when he died,

   when he was taken down and buried in a borrowed grave.

God was in heaven, watching.

On September 11^th God was in heaven…watching.

Sooner or later tragedy brings us back to Ground Zero.  And God is watching. 

And we always ask, Why?  And the answer is always the same.

   God answered Job, He simply said, trust me.

   God answered Elijah, I have my remnant.

   God answered Paul, My grace is sufficient.

   And God answered Jesus on the cross when he uttered those awful words, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

God answered with sovereign silence.

None of us knows why God allows some things and prevents others.  We know He is God, and we trust Him because His ways and thoughts are higher.  Our trust is found in being His children.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  Romans 8.28^(KJV)

Christine Wilson was painting the kitchen in her new home.  She was also upset.  She had accidentally stepped in the bucket of bright Country Orange paint.  She had no other shoes or socks, with her, so she had to go pick up her four children from the sitter in sloppy mode.  The children were napping, so the sitter suggested Christine do a little shopping and pick them up later.  Now, a mother of four young children will jump on an offer like that!  Christine made a beeline for the local housewares section of the department store.  There she found that all things do work together for good – she was able to perfectly match the new kitchen dish cloths and towels to her “Country Orange toe”.^[1]

September 11, 2001 was horribly worse than stepping in a bucket of orange paint.  And the cross outside of Jerusalem – a place called Golgotha was worse, infinitely worse than our loss 18 years ago. 

In the case of the cross, that orange toe proved to be our salvation, and God’s free offer of eternal life. 

Surely the God of the resurrection can use the bucket of Ground Zero to birth something of eternal value in our lives. 

May each of us open our hearts to let Him do so!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!

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[1] Adapted, A Problem Becomes a Solution, Christine R. Wilson, Eureka, CA, Christian Reader, Lite Fare.

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[i] Title Images:  Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.    All Scripture quoted is from The New Living Translation (unless otherwise stated) 

Complete Integrity

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Thursday, August 8, 2019

“My complaint is with God, not with people.  I have good reason to be so impatient.  Look at me and be stunned.  Put your hand over your mouth in shock.  When I think about what I am saying, I shudder.  My body trembles.  “Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful?  They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren.  Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them.  Their bulls never fail to breed.  Their cows bear calves and never miscarry.  They let their children frisk about like lambs.  Their little ones skip and dance.  They sing with tambourine and harp.  They celebrate to the sound of the flute.  They spend their days in prosperity, then go down to the grave in peace.  And yet they say to God, ‘Go away.  We want no part of you and your ways.  Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him?  What good will it do us to pray?’  (They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.)  Job 21:4-16

One of the things you’ve got to admire about Job is the tenacious way he will not be satisfied with anything less than a complete vindication of faith in God.  When life came unglued for the rich man from Uz the only thing he had left from his previous life was faith.  His riches were gone, stolen by thieves; his children had been taken in a freak accident; his health had turned to painful boils covering his whole body; with all that calamity having befallen the family his place in the community vanished as he became suspect of hiding some deep, dark secret that had God all ticked off.  And even Job’s wife had given up, sniping at what was left of Job’s faith; she got in his face and harped:  why don’t you just get it over; curse God and die. 

Can we talk?  If you were Job, wouldn’t you be a just a little curious if God was really good, and keeping faith was worth it all?  Yet, despite the horrible circumstances, and the obvious question on the table about keeping on with God, that is exactly what Job believed.  His answer to his wife’s snarky question about giving up was the archetype of integrity which never ceases to cling to truth:

But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?”  So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.  Job 2:10

In defense of Mrs. Job, it’s hard to sit by and watch your loved one suffer.  When I got badly injured playing football in high school, my father got to the hospital after they’d taken me to surgery.  When they wheeled me out of the operating room I had tubes everywhere and looked white as a ghost.  Dad took one look at what had been his healthy 16-year-old son that morning…and fainted.  Parents protect; that is our nature and calling.  My bride’s nurture gene kicks into high gear when any one of her children, grand or great-grandchildren is threatened. 

God’s Word tells us Job said nothing wrong in all of this.  And from this we take our cue:  it’s not questioning God which gets us in trouble; it’s refusing to believe amid our questioning. 

God’s not afraid of our questions; I believe He rather enjoys the fact that we want to go deeper into the meaning of why we’re here and how it all works.  It’s more the tone of our questioning that crosses the line between Creator and creature.  You may have heard that a lawyer never asks a question to which he or she doesn’t already have the answer.  That may work for wrangling the truth out in a courtroom, but it will never do in the prayer room.

For You Today

If you’ve got questions, God’s got answers.  Just remember to ask like a faithful friend, not a lawyer.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  William Blake (public domain) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons      
                          Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

Blaming God

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Monday, September 11, 2017

I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!  He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.  Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.  The Lord himself watches over you!  The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.  The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.  The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you  as you come and go, both now and forever.  Psalm 121:1-8^(NLT)                                       

It is reassuring, affirming and a big warm, fuzzy to read this passage of Scripture – when the sun is shining and all is well in Zion!  But it’s hard to reconcile all those promises that seem so definite in Scripture when life starts coming apart.

·       My help comes

·       He will not let you stumble

·       The Lord himself watches over you

·       The Lord stands beside you

·       The sun will NOT harm you

·       The Lord keeps you from ALL harm

·       Both now and forever

Where is all this up close and personal care, protection and rubbing your back when the doctor says cancer, or the lawyer says it’s over, or the accountant suggests bankruptcy?

I’ve often stated and re-stated that these devotionals are written when I first get up in the morning – the very early morning!  My devotional life includes some hairy questions, questions surrounded by fog and wonder.  Some of that wonder is like yours:  if God made all those promises, how come life stinks sometimes?

There are several tested and true answers with which we can hold at bay our very human tendency to blame God for whatever’s going on.

1.     Sometimes we all want to blame God for the mess we create.  God never promised anything He will not perform.  He also never promised to take away all the consequences of our sinful actions.

2.     Sometimes we all read Scripture upside down.  For instance, a promise to stand beside you and watch over you tells us there are troubles; it doesn’t mean you are exempt from going through the valley of the shadow of death.  The real promise is that, if you trust Him you’ve got the best friend you could have who will see you through to the other side of it.

3.     Sometimes we measure results upside down.  What your community, friends, and even you look at and call “failure” can turn out to be the main cog in the wheel of God’s gracious plan.  After all, who knew mold in a Petri dish could be the success of the ages against infectious diseases?  Or that the blood of the martyrs could be the seed of the church?  Or that losing yourself for the sake of God’s will means you gain everything worthwhile in this life and the next?

God said he looks at things differently than we do – a LOT differently:

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:9^(NLT)

For You Today

Got anything really stinky going on in your life right now?  When that temptation comes to blame God for whatever part you really detest about it, remember that He always keeps his promises, stands by you and knows how to measure whatever’s going on against the backdrop of eternity.  Your part is to trust Him!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com