Recently, I was sitting in my car with a dead battery waiting for my husband to show up. As I was waiting, I stumbled upon a Youtube video that made me think. It was an interview with an artist by the name of Lisa Gungor, who for many years played with a collective of musicians that made music for religious/spiritually minded people. I first came upon them several years ago and bought a couple of their albums. I even choreographed a dance that was performed at church to one of their songs. I heard sometime later that they had gone off the deep end. I took it with a grain of salt because in some Christian circles going off the deep end could be admitting you like rap music.
I watched the video for several reasons. One, I had time to kill, but also I hadn’t heard from Lisa Gungor in many years, and I was curious as to how ‘far’ they really had gone. By the end of the video I could understand the concerns that many would have. Unfortunately, this interview did not do much to alleviate those concerns, as it was edited to seem like God was no longer part of their lives. After a little more searching, I found the exact opposite to be the case.
Their story seemed to be one of trying to make sense of the world with what they were taught about God. Their season of struggle is not unique to many in the Body of Christ. Those times in a person's life has the potential to produce a very healthy and beautiful faith, but the opposite can also be true.
God is Not Afraid of Our Questions
Wrestling with God, or if you are not there yet, the concept of God, has been our inheritance from the beginning. It is the legacy that has been handed down to us from our early human parents. So why are many of us still surprised today when we are faced with questions of doubt and confusion within ourselves and those around us? This is the risk God has taken and the path that we have chosen as free will beings.
In order to know God and truly love Him, we must first choose to know, and to love Him. He does not force Himself upon us. He allows us the opportunity to explore life with and without Him. I love when my children obey me without question, that is the ideal. But I must admit, when my instruction or wisdom has been challenged and I see them wrestle through it and later conclude for themselves that mom actually makes sense; I feel more secure in their ability to be good decision makers and in their trust in me. If my daughter challenged me on my rule against jumping out of planes without a parachute, I would be more concerned for her sanity and physical well being than I would be for my authority. I have a little better grasp of the effects of gravity than a seven year old.
God is not diminished by our questions. He welcomes them because He wants us to come to the realization that He is trustworthy. When Job and his friends ponder and questions God about the evil coming against Job, God does not say, “shut up and just believe!” He in return gives them much to think about and then blesses Job, assuring His goodwill towards him. We are told throughout scripture to ask, seek, & search etc. He rewards those who seek Him. Jesus is the way the truth and the life, so what are we afraid of when people set out to seek truth? Are we afraid God will turn out to be a liar and/or a figment of our imaginations? And if that is the case would He be worth following? God can handle Himself in the face of our doubts and questions, the real challenge is, are we prepared?
As believers we are told to be prepared to give a defense for the hope that we have in Christ. How do you defend what is not challenged and how do you build a worthy defense that we have not at least tested ourselves? Wrestling through these uncertainties are okay. As long as our aim is truth, we will find our way. So when the Gungor's of the world cross our path, instead of responding, "just believe," walk alongside them. We have nothing to be afraid of because it is during these times we get the opportunity to truly love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind.