Questioning God

“And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭15‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭

I am one of those people who talk to the television, the character in the movie (or maybe the writer and director), today I found myself talking to Abraham. God gave him a promise of a child, despite his old age, and Abraham believed it.

“And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”‭‭Genesis‬ ‭15‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ ‭

God told him “I’m going to give you this land to possess”. Abraham questioned Him. “How will I know?” That is when I answered, “Because God said it.”

I immediately felt the conviction. How often have a read the Word and questioned “But will You do it for me?” How many times have I questioned a promise He departed in my Spirit? Why would I not just take Him at His word?

We question, because we put God in our box. We expect that He will let us down because others have. We expect that it is not 100% truth because others have lied to us. We don’t take Him at His word, because we have trusted others word and they have not come through. I know the end of Abraham’s story, I don’t have to question that God came through. However, Abraham didn’t know how it all worked out.

God did not get mad at Abraham. He met Abraham where he was. God created a covenant with Abraham that night.

“He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭15‬:‭9‬-‭21‬ ‭

While we can and should take God at His word, when we question Him, He does not rain down fire and brimstone. When we question God, He meets us where we are. He reassures us in our weakness. He reminds us of all He has done before and strengthens the detail of His promise.

He will not lie. “in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began”. ‭‭Titus‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭

If He said it, we can believe it. “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭11‬ ‭

He is not partial. “So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,” Acts‬ ‭10‬:‭34‬ ‭

God does not change. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” ‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬ ‭.

The Word says if we believe in line with His will, we will receive. “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark‬ ‭11‬:‭24‬ ‭ and “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” 1 John‬ ‭5‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭

Questioning God is not the worse thing in the world. We are looking to Him for answers and He is the one with the answers. There are many reasons that we can believe what He promises and many reasons we should!

Prayer – Lord, thank You for being someone I can come to with my questions. Thank You for being a God of Your Word, unchanging and faithful to bring it all to pass. Help my unbelief. Help me to remember all the times You have kept Your promises and build my faith. In Jesus name. Amen.