Q & A

42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. 
(I Corinthians 15:42-44 NLT)

Do you ever hold back asking a question because you fear someone may ask you why you ask such "dumb" questions? When I conduct team meetings in which we have to look at the design of our work, or perhaps even redesign something that no longer produces the results we need to see, I ask the team members to not be afraid to ask questions. These questions are often those that will clarify an objective, get at the root of a system issue we must address before we can move on, or even just set into motion conversation that leads to new ideas. Truly - there are no "dumb" questions - just those that are "un-asked" because someone fears being judged for asking them!

There are lots of questions we can have regarding our spiritual walk with Jesus. We might wonder how many times we can be forgiven for exactly the same thing. Let me assure you - there is not end to his forgiveness and no two "sins" are exactly alike. Even though you think it is the same "sin", it is slightly different each time and his forgiveness is sufficient to wash us clean as many times as it takes for us to reach the point of forsaking that sin all together. We might wonder what happens to us after we die - where the soul "lives" after our death. It is a reasonable question. It suggests more than curiosity. No question is ever trivial in the eyes of God - especially when the "missing answer" is niggling at the heart of one of his children!

Let me assure you of this - I don't have all the answers and I ask as many questions as the next person. I struggle with understanding stuff that is kind of hard for my limited mind to grasp - not because I am dumb or it is hard for me to learn - but because it is stuff I cannot fully understand until I stand face-to-face with Jesus! The same is true for each of us - some things are just not going to be as clear as we'd like them to be. In those situations, we are called upon to ask our questions - then to trust God for the "fullness" of those answers coming in just the right timing within our lives. Trust is at the core of so much where it comes to our living for Jesus. We trust in his finished work on the cross. We trust in his blood to be sufficient to cover over each and every one of our sins. We trust him for everything - from "soup to nuts" as the saying goes.

I don't understand all the ins and outs of our broken bodies being buried in all their weakness, but being raised in newfound strength. I don't have to understand how it "works" to trust that it does, though. I can believe it will occur because I trust in Jesus. I can count on what seems impossible because God is the God of "all things possible". I know I have aches and pains right now, but trust there will be no room for those in my "heavenly body". It doesn't have to be all worked out in our minds in order for us to place our trust in God's power and goodness. I trust that gravity exists simply because I am not floating off into the outer limits of space never to be seen again! I don't have to understand "how" it exists, or even "why" it exerts the force it does - I just count on it being there and doing what it does!

In much the same way, we count on God being there and doing what he does - regardless of the questions we have or the things we don't give voice to that we simply are struggling to understand. It isn't wrong to ask the questions - it may require trust in the answer we receive though! Just sayin!

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