How Questions Can Strengthen Our Faith — Vaneetha Risner

Like many people, when I came to Christ I expected that my new life would be marked by ease and success. I was convinced that if people served God and loved him, they’d be healed of all diseases and their families and ministries would thrive. For many years, that theology corresponded with my own life experience, cementing my belief that God never wants his children to suffer.

But then trouble hit. In wave after relentless wave. My infant son died due to a doctor’s mistake. I was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, a debilitating progressive and painful disease. My husband left me for someone else and I was left to raise two adolescent daughters as a single parent. I wasn’t sure what to make of these events — did they mean that I had been unfaithful or that God was punishing me for something? Why would he not answer my earnest prayers?

The tidy life that I once had imploded. And I was left with a myriad of questions. Was God good? Was faith worth it? How would I make it through? What if things never got better? What if they actually got worse? Why did God feel so distant when he once felt near and how could I get that closeness again? Was there any purpose to this suffering or was it completely senseless?

Many of those questions seem almost inevitable when suffering comes, especially lasting and unexpected suffering. Some Christians try to squelch those questions, assuming they reflect a lack of faith, or at least a wavering one. They fear that asking questions will damage their faith, assuming it will crumble under scrutiny. Yet I think true faith comes from grappling with these questions, earnestly going to God with them, expecting him to answer. That expectation leads to actively looking — looking through Scripture, looking for God’s promises, looking for answers rather than ignoring the questions.

When I asked these questions in this way, God drew me into a richer life with Him than I could possibly imagine. Rather than shaking my faith, asking questions confirmed and deepened my trust in God as I learned to live with uncertainty. The more uncertain my circumstances were, the more certain I became that God would never leave me. I would never have to face anything without Him.

Don’t be afraid to ask God questions. He invites them.

In my new Bible study, Desperate for Hope: Questions We Ask God in Suffering, Loss and Longing, I want people to see women in the Bible who suffered greatly, asked God questions, and found God to be faithful in the end. Through their crying out, because of it and not in spite of it, they came to understand the depth of God’s love for them.  

Throughout Scripture, we see people who voiced doubts and questions, especially when they were discouraged. Perhaps you can relate to some of these words — all spoken by people who were earnestly asking God.

• Moses: “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?” (Exodus 5:22)
• Gideon: “If the Lord is with us, then why has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13)
• Job: “Why is life given to those with no future, those God has surrounded with difficulties? (Job 3:23 NLT)
• David: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1-2)
• Elijah: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” (1 Kings 19:4)
• Jeremiah: “Do you really hate [us]? Why have you wounded us past all hope of healing? We hoped for peace, but no peace came. We hoped for a time of healing but found only terror.” (Jeremiah 14:19 NLT)
• Jesus: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)

After seeing these questions and doubts, you may wonder if there are any questions that are off-limits to ask the Lord. I’m not sure, but I think it depends on how we approach God. Are we accusing God of wrongdoing? Are we grumbling to others ABOUT God or are we going directly TO him? Are we angrily blaming the Lord or genuinely asking him questions? While the questions may sound similar, the tone and heart behind them may be quite different. Both Mary and Zechariah asked the angel of the Lord related questions — how the words he had spoken would come true. One question pleased the angel and the other displeased him, likely because of the motivation behind it (Luke 1:5-38). Yet even if we ask inappropriately, if we confess our misplaced anger to God, he is willing and ready to forgive us.  (1 John 1: 9)

We know that God was angry with the children of Israel who complained in the wilderness, using similar words to David and Job, but the heart behind their comments was different. For the Israelites in the wilderness, their questions were more like accusations, questioning God’s character and goodness, with no signs of repentance. And they were complaining corporately about God to one another, not going individually and directly to God himself.

Don’t let the Israelites’ example discourage you because God invites our sincere inquiries. As we can see from the above quotes, faithful people in the Bible dared to voice their pain and frustration, to ask questions and admit their doubts and fears. Those questions deepened their faith rather than weakening it. When we humbly and directly go to God, pouring out our troubled hearts, he will answer us. Perhaps not always with the specific answer to our question, but always with himself.

The way to go from despair to hope is by facing our questions, doubts, and disappointments and looking for God in the midst of them. It often begins with lament which shows a deep trust in the Lord, an assurance that he cares about our pain, a conviction that he responds to desperate cries rather than empty pious words. True faith is willing to be honest with God, confident that he will never fail. When we are desperate for hope, that is what we need most.