Sunday, February 10, 2008

Having the Right Questions

Reporter William Lobdell, looks at how the stories he covered affected him and his spiritual journey.

http://www.dickstaub.com/links_view.php?record_id=5313

I thought I'd offer my thoughts to the questions that he raised.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Why do good things happen to bad people?

Why does God get credit for answered prayers but no blame for unanswered ones?Why do we look for truth in answers when these answers historically don’t come from such deep questions? Isn’t the truth found in questions?

I see a world that looks like God is hiding. But like a parent who plays hide n seek with a small child, when its that parents turn to hide, they hide in a place where they can easily be found as long as the child is looking.

I believe God answers all prayers. Some of his answers are “yes” and some are “no”. This may not be an attractive proposition, but this unattractiveness is proof that I’m not wishful thinking.

Reality itself’s most axiomatic truths are unattractive, in the form of suffering, death and taxes.

As C.S. Lewis once wrote:
"Reality, in fact, is always something you couldn't have guessed. That's one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It's a religion you couldn't have guessed."
--The Case for Christianity

I don’t claim to have all the right answers, just the right questions.

Why do we believe in the miraculous healing power of God when he's never been able to regenerate a limb or heal a severed spinal chord?

As a Christian, every healing that I’ve ever seen God perform was to serve a greater purpose of authenticating His word. Just one example is when Christ tells a bed-ridden man, in the presence of many observers, including the religious leaders of his day, that his sins are forgiven. Then, to authenticate His ability to forgive sins (a quality only given to God alone), he proves it by telling the man to rise up and walk.

Healings are very rare today, but I hear them most loudly and convincingly described, from missionaries in countries that have never even heard the Gospel, in authenticating the Word of God being proclaimed.

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