Honesty

Once I decided to seek God rather than shut Him out, it released a flood of questions. These questions challenged my faith, and the answers would determine my relationship with God moving forward. 

When we finally come to the end of ourselves, turn to God’s wisdom, and surrender honestly and vulnerably to Him, we will find truth, healing, and redemption. God is not afraid of our questions. He is more than capable of satisfying our longing for understanding, although He is not required to give an answer. Remember that verse about God having good plans for us? Let’s read it in context and see one of God’s most comforting promises.

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Jeremiah 29:10-14 (NIV)

The promise is that when you seek God with your whole heart, honestly desiring to know Him and His will, then you will find the answer that satisfies your soul. Spoiler alert—He is the answer! In our process of searching, we will find Him! He wants us to see our pain from His eternal perspective. He wants us to rest in His peace, which is beyond our understanding. He wants us to be flooded by the assurance of His great love. 

Think about Job, who continually asks God his questions with raw honesty throughout his grief and loss. When God finally shows up with a reply, it isn’t to explain Himself or provide the reasoning behind the circumstances. It is to declare His sovereignty and character (Job 38-41). He doesn’t give an answer; He is the answer.  

You see, tragedy and triumph go together. When we overcome pain with the love of Christ, when we embrace grief, knowing that God will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death to the other side (Ps. 23:4), there is a promise for those who are faithful. This promise is not that our dreams will come true, as we so often want to believe. It is for God’s will to be done in us and for Him to be glorified.