Questioning God

Questioning God

 Some people believe that human beings should never question the ways of God. Some even feel that it borders on sin to ask God, “Why?” But the Book of Habakkuk counters that idea. It is filled with a prophet’s perplexing questions—and the Lord’s penetrating answers.

 Habakkuk was not unlike many people today who are troubled by the world around them. They, too, sometimes wonder: Where is God? Why doesn’t He do something about all the pain and suffering, the injustice and oppression, the wars and diseases that destroy humanity? If He is there, why doesn’t He speak? If He is powerful, why doesn’t He act? If He is loving, why doesn’t He intervene? Habakkuk shows that questions like these are as old as the seventh century A.D.

 So are the answers. While God may not explain everything to our satisfaction—nor are we capable of understanding everything He has told us—He assures us, just as He assured Habakkuk, that His ways are just and righteous, and furthermore, “the just shall live by faith” (2:4). This truth applies universally, as Paul and other writers of the NT realized (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). In the end, the ultimate answer to our questions is to trust God.