Hard Questions!
Meditation for the week of June 3, 2012
Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions. (1 Kings 10:1)
Solomon had wisdom and power and riches. Did I mention that he had wisdom? He seemed to have answers for questions that many of us have never even thought to ask. Obviously, his wisdom is surpassed only by the wisdom of the Lord. When the Queen of Sheba came to test Solomon with hard questions, she got her answers and was greatly impressed with the happiness of his subjects and with the majesty of his kingdom. She also was impressed with him.
Most of us have ‘hard questions” that we would like to have answered. Even though we have the divinely inspired Scriptures that are sufficient to answer all of the questions that God wants us to have answered, there are some things that some of us will never be able to explain or understand. For example:
I do not know how the Lord spoke the worlds into existence, but I believe that He did (Hebrews 11:3).
I do not understand how God could seem to be so angry in the old testament, and so merciful in the new. War is major them of the old testament. A respected man was usually a man of war. Peace however is a major theme of the new testament. Even the wars of the tribulation period will be leading up to the peace of the righteous thousand year reign of Christ. I don’t understand this, but I thank God daily for the fact that I was born in new testament times.
I do not understand how something without beginning can exist. God is eternal and has no beginning nor ending, yet I believe He does exist. His name Jehovah seems to imply that He is the ever existing One. He is the one who is and who was and who is to come (Revelation 1:8). The coming of the Lord into the wold proved that God does exist. Creation also proves that. The fact that we have consciences proves that as well. I don’t have to understand it to know that it is true.
I don’t understand how the early new testament Christians could understand an epistle or letter that was read to them while we have to send people to seminaries and Bible schools to study these letters. The more we study them in an intellectual way the more interpretations seem to arise from some of the passages. We aren’t wise enough (or maybe simple enough) to agree on the meanings of the words that Paul and others wrote.
I don’t understand how one man could bear away the sins of every person in the world. Now even if you assume that He only bears away the sins of believers (which I don’t believe), I still would have trouble explaining that. But one thing I know even though I don’t understand it, Christ bore my sins in His body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).
I don’t understand how God could love the whole world. I have never met anyone with this kind of love in spite of what they say. The Lord had no prejudices unless it was that he hated hypocrisy. He spent his time with ethnic groups and sinners that most Jewish people avoided without being tainted by their sin and prejudices. Because of His love, He touched lepers and cast out demons. He allowed a woman who “was a sinner” (Luke 7:37) to anoint him with perfume. Because of His love, he forgave an adulteress who was caught in the act while convicting her accusers of hypocrisy (John 8:1-11).
No I don’t understand a lot of things. I don’t understand why I have been blessed to live in a land where I have been given privileges and blessings that people down through the ages have not been able to enjoy. I don’t understand why I am a believer in the Lord when others are not. I don’t understand why the Lord would care enough and love me enough to die for me, but I am glad He did.
I don’t have to have the wisdom of a Solomon in order to believe that God is who He claimed to be, does what He wants to do, and loves each of us unconditionally. Most of all I don’t have to understand the theology associated with the death of Christ to believe that He died for me because He said that He did. Sometimes not having all the answers is alright. Walking by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) allows us to have confidence and peace even when we don’t have all the answers.
Bruce Collins