Asking God Hard Questions?

Fast Food, Free Will, and a Father's Response

My children are already asking questions for which I don’t have easy answers—the ways of God which we won’t fully grasp until eternity.

I can hardly believe I’ve been a mother for nearly a decade. Yet, each time I look in the mirror, silver hairs catch sunlight and subtle marionette lines show me that I am, in fact, getting older—a gift not to be taken for granted.

My kids are getting older, too. I see it in their hands when I help them wash up for supper. I hear it in their hearts when they ask questions about life’s purpose and God’s plan.

Last Sunday after church we stopped at our usual faster food spot—Chipotle.

But this visit was different. The regular Powers family Chipotle order suddenly changed. Instead of my daughter’s usual kids’ meal, she eagerly requested a big burrito—stuffed to the brim, spilling over, and double wrapped!

My husband and I quickly glanced at each other. Our eyes met in a moment of parental pride and millennial panic, as if to say “In this economy?”

“What are we going to do when our boys are teenagers? They’ll be eating us out of house and home!” I chuckled to my husband, Sam. He smiled at the thought and grabbed our trays of food to find a table.

After finishing her first big bite of the big burrito, my daughter asked an even bigger question. The topic of discussion over Sunday lunch? Free will and God’s sovereignty.

If I’ve learned anything in my nine years of mothering, it’s that the dinner table is a sacred space where little hearts ask big questions. Then it hit me, her physical and spiritual appetite is growing—a gift not to be taken for granted.

Before I could respond, Sam spoke.

Her father put down his fork, looked directly into her eyes, and encouraged her with three words: Keep asking questions.

My writer’s mind took the wheel as I began to illustrate a story helping her understand this complex concept—if God knew, then why…?

After a brief back and forth in-between burrito bites, the boys chimed in with questions of their own—“Can we please get dessert after lunch, mom?” they pleaded.

Father reached for his fork. Mother’s illustration seemed to suffice…for now. Our eyes met once again in a shared moment of parental pride—our girl is growing up.

Why am I telling you this story? Well, I want to remind you that your Heavenly Father is encouraging you to ask questions, too—ask, seek, knock.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” —Luke 11:9-13 CSB

You see, our daughter’s hunger is good—a gift, really. Her father fed her, welcomed her questions, and felt the pride only a father could feel for his child.

How much more does our Heavenly Father care for us?

God is never annoyed with your asking. He gave us His written Word—alive and active. He gave us His Holy Spirit—equipping and empowering us to do His will. God is a perfect Father, perfectly leading, guiding, and providing for us.

You see, I’ve been asking, seeking, and knocking for three whole decades. And I can tell you that God’s comforting and convicting replies keep my heart returning to Him over and over again.

But, sometimes the asking feels more like wrestling. I’m like my daughter—standing in line at Chipotle with a growling belly and a growing appetite—hungry, wrestling, wondering…

Can you relate?

Are you waiting with an increased spiritual appetite? Are you wrestling with tough questions and complex concepts? Are you hungry for truth?

Let me offer some food for thought inspired by words of wisdom from my mother.

What if the act of wrestling with hard theological questions actually brings glory to God? What if the stretching is sacred? What if the struggle supernaturally draws us close to the One who gave us the mind and will to wrestle?

The truth is that we will never receive all of the answers to our questions this side of heaven. As my mother so eloquently preaches— we don’t have to know the HOW because we have the WHO.

I will never know all the hows, but I do have the Who—His name is Jesus.

Parents, keep pointing your kids to Jesus—the way, the truth, and the life. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Live out your faith with sincerity and simplicity. Your children are watching and listening. FYI: That never stops (thanks, Mom).

Perhaps your spiritual appetite is increasing. Perhaps you’re wrestling with hard questions. Perhaps your theological framework is being challenged.

Maybe you’re sitting at the dinner table with tears in your eyes and a long list of whys—“If God is good, then why…?”

Let me encourage you to wrestle with those questions—for your growth and God’s glory. Ask, seek, knock. The Holy Spirit reveals the will of God through the Word of God. If an earthly father gladly fills his child’s belly with a delicious double wrapped burrito, how much more will our heavenly Father fill our hearts with gifts of truth and grace? How much more will He meet our needs by the power of the Holy Spirit? Oh, how much more.

Open the Word, humble your heart, seek truth, and knock on the door. Yes, in the wonder and the wrestle, our Heavenly Father’s great love holds us together.

Grace and Peace,

Audra

P.S. I encourage you to check out

Melanie Dorsey Art Works

(my mom & spiritual mentor). You’ll be blessed by her insightful writing and beautiful art.