Tough Questions

By David Sellnow

Wanting some answers

QuestionsIf you could ask God one question, what would it be?

  • "I don't understand why God let my cousin die. She had barely lived, and then, crash, she was gone."
  • "My mom just had a miscarriage. Will the baby be in heaven? What will it look like?"
  • "What about all the shootings at schools? Why doesn't God stop stuff like that?"
  • "I know God says everything works for our good, but sometimes I just don't see it."

Getting some answers

How do you answer? Let's get biblical about it.

God loves us.

  • 1 John 3:1. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"
    God is in control.
  • Psalm 95:3-5. "For the LORD is the great God. ... In his hand are the depths of the earth ... the mountain peaks ... the sea ... the dry land."
    God promises us eternity.
  • Romans 6:23. "The gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."

Only when we keep those abc's of faith in mind are we ready to face the tough questions.

What's toughest for us is keeping our perspective focused on eternity. We want all the answers here and now. When events on earth seem to go wrong, we label God a failure, thinking he doesn't love us or isn't in control.

Wrong answers

Cable TV big shot Ted Turner is no big fan of God. He called some CNN employees "Jesus freaks" for observing Ash Wednesday. Turner wasn't always anti-religious. When he was a teenager, Ted wanted to become a missionary. But when his sister died of disease in spite of his prayers, Ted gave up on faith. He remembers: "I was taught that God was love and God was powerful. And I couldn't understand how someone so innocent should be made or allowed to suffer so."

Beware of Ted Turner Syndrome -- giving up on God because he did (or didn't do) something the way you thought it should have been.

Jesus is the answer

Turner wondered why "someone so innocent" should suffer. Think about that. Who is truly innocent? Only Jesus. Who was made to suffer the most? Jesus. Not just physical pain and bodily death -- Jesus took on the pain and death of every sinner's every sin. He was slammed with suffering we can't begin to imagine -- and no way did he deserve it! But he did it to be the answer for us.

God's answer to worries, to crime, to disease, to whatever ugly things happen to us in this world, is to point us to Jesus. What Jesus did shows without a doubt that:

  • God loves us.
  • God is in control.
  • God promises us eternity.

So what do we do when faced with tough questions about death and unfairness and suffering and shame? "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary or lose heart" (Hebrews 12:2-3).

Pastor David Sellnow helps train future called workers as a professor of religion, history, and philosophy at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN.