Mark 8:1-30

This passage is laden with questions such as; “How many loaves do you have?” “Why does this generation seek a sign?” “Why do you discuss the fact you have no bread?” “Do you not yet see or understand?” “Do you have a hardened heart?” “…And do you not remember…how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” “Do you not yet understand?” “Do you see anything?” “Who do the people say that I am?” “But who do you say that I am?”

We might be thinking, “Wow! For an omniscient Being, He sure asks a lot of questions!” Since He suffers no knowledge deficit He must have been using His questions to stimulate their (and our) thinking toward some good end. Since he doesn’t need our input, perhaps God likes to watch us use our brains. Perhaps he knows we need to use them since they are connected to our hearts.

Often a Christian is thought to be maturing by their ability to hear God’s commands and to heed them. I definitely wouldn’t discard this idea. However, I do want to consider another way God interacts with us. Beyond giving commands to would be obedient servants I believe to  sons and friends, he is apt to ask questions.

I am a grandfather to 4 (at this counting) amazing little grandkids. Its the best show in town for sure. While their parents do give them commands, they also ask them questions. I am far more interested (and entertained) by watching a question engage their brilliant, agile and creative minds. I love watching their wheels turning, assembling from their limited experience and knowledge, answers which make perfect sense to them. It seems that their learning is accelerated more by questions than commands. Perhaps this is so because they have to take some ownership of the problem solving process and then live with the outcomes of their precious half-baked little ideas. “OK Mommy, I won’t cut my sisters hair again.” (a recent half-baked little idea)

Thinking is often viewed with suspicion in circles where God is expected to speak with regularity, clarity and detail.  It is presumed in some circles that this is “the” prerequisite to God’s will being accomplished on earth as it is in heaven. For me, I believe that approach is only one of the ways God speaks and gets things done. I also believe He is sufficiently in control of human affairs to ask us how we would approach a situation and give us the latitude to explore and experiment in finding answers.

I believe he knows this way, the lesson learned becomes a part of us. I also believe God is quite entertained as we endeavor to follow Him and answer His questions from our very limited thoughts and experiences. Is God big enough to accomplish His will while allowing us to grow as children best grow – through exploration and experimentation and failure? I am betting on it. This way his truth become enfleshed by our lives. The Word becomes flesh again; the light shines from the darkness; his children are transformed into the image of his Son.

Perhaps the reason we are frustrated in hearing His voice is that we are listening for commands when He is in fact asking questions. Perhaps the reason our progress is often limited is that we are speaking when we should be listening. Questions provoke thought and dialogue; they create connection between us and God. Questions are appropriate for us as His agents of free will and those who are learning to walk in His ways. Questions reveal humility and hunger therefore questions become us. And somehow, our conversation with Him bonds us more meaingfully to each other.

               Unless you become as little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Father, permit that our hearts would become childlike yet mature, flexible yet resolute, meek yet courageous, humble yet bold and innocent yet wise. Help us to hear the questions you are asking us. Help us to ask the right questions of You. Help us to ask the right questions of each other. Raise up an army of people whose childlike, brilliant, agile and creative minds function in harmony with the Holy Spirit within them. May we hear in our spirits both Your living commands and Your questions. And….may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.