Wondering
Originally, I thought I would title this blog “questioning,” but as I pondered it, and weighed the word choice that was more of a negative vibe than I wanted for this post. But it is about the questions we ask ourselves, our friends and family, the world at large, and our God.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I ask a lot of questions. I wonder, often, if my choices for
the day are productive or lazy. Am I on the right path at the moment, or have I been diverted and need to work my way back through prayer, more questions, and confession? Is this the best activity to do in this moment? Do I need “x” or can I get by without it? What was that person thinking or intending when they said “x” or did “x”? Did the dream I woke up from have a meaning, was it a prompt to prayer, or was it just the hot sauce I lathered on my food last night?
Sometimes the questions are just versions of curiosity. Which US cities have similar latitudes and does that positioning affect the success or growth of a city? What skills and technology have we lost over the ages? What conditions cause rare cloud formations?
If I compare myself to the people of the Bible, we are a questioning bunch. We wonder and we ponder—probably more than we need to.
A quick online concordance search, simply using New King James translation, showed over 400 uses of the word “why”.
And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?” (John 10:20 when Jews were divided over who Jesus was.)
The question words “where” and “how” had over 500 occurrences each.
For instance, David in Psalm 139 asks, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?”
And from the gospel of Luke, Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
The word “what” had nearly 1,400 uses but when you whittle out the non-question uses it still had close to 1,000 appearances.
Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” (1 Samuel 20:1)
But the winner of the question words was “who”. Versions of it (including words like “whom” or “whoever”) occur over 6,000 times. By sampling Genesis and applying it to the rest, I’m guessing there’s still over 2,000 uses of the word itself. Granted, it’s not always in a question form. It could read like, ‘the God who created’. But in all likelihood, at least half of that 2,000 is in the form of a question.
Exodus 15:11 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?”
Psalm 18:31 For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?
We are a wondering people. We wonder about important things like the nature of God and how best to worship him. But we also wonder why our hair refuses to part or why our neighbor left early.
We wonder because we do not know. And, the ones who look to God realize that he does know. He has all the answers—the ones we need and the ones we can forget. The good wondering, the wondering that does us good both now and eternally, is the wondering that seeks after God, the wondering that grows our faith.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
He is a rewarder for those who wonder.
