Questions that GOD asks...(blog series part 6)

God asked a guy a question that is recorded way back in the beginning...
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?" Genesis 4:6
And that question has got me thinking...

Why was indeed Cain angry?
Why am I sometimes angry?

I hope this doesn't come across as too simplistic of a thought, of an answer to that question?
I wonder if being angry is many times a symptom? When I am angry am I just frustrated or disappointed?
And is that frustration and disappointment simply manifesting itself as an emotion called anger?

Cain was angry because his offering wasn't as 'good' as his brothers.
The emotion manifest was just an outworking or overflow of what was going on in his heart at the time. Maybe it had been brewing for a while and this was the latest thing to tip him over the edge into anger?

When I am angry and then get a moment to think about why, I have many times realised that what made me angry was not the thing at all.
I had pent up frustration about something else.
Disappointment in regard to some other area of my life.

So when God asks me "why are you angry?", I wonder if God is hoping I will take a breath, take a moment to reflect, and work out with him what is really going on inside?

This week can I encourage you that if you are angry about something, don't hide from it or quickly try to justify it?
Take a moment for you and God and pray/talk it through.
See if God shows the root of your frustration and then deal with that.

Something to think about...

Questions that GOD asks...(blog series part 5)

I want to finish this little simple thought series with a question that God asks, that is kind of confrontational...
The thing about God is He is passionate about not leaving us unchanged by an encounter with Him in some way. His presence should affect us and leave us changed. His word is designed to do the same.
Hebrews 4:12 explains how His word isn't just some nice encouraging thing to meditate on, but something with the ability to affect the very core of your being.

That is true for me when I God asks me this question...

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" Luke 6:46 niv

I don't know about you but this question has some bite to it.
It challenges me to my core. Makes we stop and think for a moment...
- Am I doing everything the way Jesus would like?
- Are my motives for what I do right?
- I need to make sure I am not being a hypocrite!

I don't shy away from scriptures that aren't all encouraging and uplifting...because as Paul put it "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16 niv).

May this question remind you to consider again what God would like you to do or to focus on this week?
What has He asked of you? What is He reminding you?
That is your next step...

Something to think about...

Questions that GOD asks...(blog series part 4)

The Bible tells us that Elijah is a "man just like like us".
That means there is probably a lot we can potentially learn from his story and his interactions with God...

After what could arguably have been the most successful ministry moment in his life so far, Elijah has another type of moment. One where he forgets who God has made him to be and who God is to him.
He has just finished defeating the prophets of Baal. It is a crazy story you can read about in 1 Kings 18. Single handedly with God, he prevails against all the odds. Not long after he loses confidence in God and himself, then runs away.
That is where I pick up the story for us...
In 1 Kings 19 God ministers to him and sets him on a course again that leads to a new 'defining moment' in his life. Maybe you need a new 'defining moment' in your relationship with God today?

After a journey that takes 40 days he arrives at Mt Sinai, a pretty important place in Jewish history to say the least!
Here is where it gets even more interesting for me...
God asks him a question, not once, but twice!
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”

God didn't ask because He didn't know. It was His idea for Elijah to meet Him there in the first place.
God asks because He wanted to set him up for the next stage of his ministry.
God asks twice so that 2 distinct things would happen in Elijah's life:
1. He got to meet with God and experience His presence.
2. He got instructions from God about the 'next step' for his ministry.

I believe we all need defining moments like what Elijah had.
'Two fold' moments where we not only get to experience the goodness of God and His presence, but also discover the next step part.
I am firm believer that this is not only healthy, it is the right balance for any believer.
If you have all presence and no direction you don't go, you don't do.
If you are all go and do with no presence, you soon forget why you are going and doing.

If you are needing it right now, take some time out to be in God's presence today...
Enjoy His presence, discover your next step!

Something to think about...

Questions that GOD asks...(blog series part 3)

I find it fascinating the questions that God asks people.
If He is so all powerful and all knowing and always present...why does He need to ask in the first place? The answer is quite simple and powerful at the same time...He asks because the answer is what we needed to hear.

One that is kind of interesting and powerful at the same is the question God asks Adam and Eve...
"Who told you that your were naked?" Genesis 3:11
The story goes that they had been living a fantastic existence without struggle, loss, shame, embarrassment, all until a serpent tempted them to eat from a tree they had been asked not to eat from.
The upshot of that temptation moment was they now looked at themselves and each other differently.
Before then they were happy to be themselves. Happy to be how God had made them and certainly happy with their lot in life. Now they aren't. They have lost something very special in a moment!

To put this into a more modern context for this moment, "who told you that you were naked?"
Who told you that you were not good enough?
God never tells people they aren't good enough for Him!
The devil does...
God never writes people off because of their failings or inadequacies!
The devil does...

God accepts you as you are right now.
He wants to relate to you, provide for you, heal you and more.

Something to think about...

Questions that GOD asks...(blog series part 2)

Here is a famous little account that I hope will encourage you?

Abraham and Sarah have a pretty special 'God encounter' one day.
So special it takes a turn that Sarah especially didn't expect and struggled to get her head around.
She gets told by God (via what we think were angels) that she is going to get pregnant.

Genesis 18:11-14 niv
11Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

13Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah has history.
Her history is telling her that even if God says it, she doesn't think it could happen.
Yes it would be nice, but can God really go against the natural order of things?
She has a life time of built up hopes and then dreams that have been dashed.

While she struggles with this news and yet another crazy promise, God asks a pretty important question. Is anything too hard for me?
Again God knows the answer, He always does!
He just wants to prove a point, teach a lesson, expand Sarah's faith...

When it comes to what you maybe facing right now...
...is anything too hard for the Lord?
Maybe you know someone facing a challenge...
...is anything too hard for the Lord?

What God is asking is a rhetorical.
He is not asking you to give Him a list of what He can not do.
There is no point. He can do it.
He is asking so that we are reminded of His ability to do anything under any circumstance.

Something to think about...