More Questions than Answers - August 27

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 18:1-20; PM Psalm 18:21-50; Job 8:1-10, 20-22; Acts 10:17-33; John 7:14-36

Yesterday the knitting ministry that meets outside of my office in the conference room got more than they bargained for. I walked in and a conversation turned a little heavier than they expected.   It was around virtues in conflict and what I hoped the knitters got was not everything has clear answers.  We often live with complex questions that can’t easily be resolved.  They seemed to enjoy the conversation, I think.  Another conversation this week with someone who is considering how to build a more intentional practice around his faith journey happened. During our  exchange, he said something quite lovely: “I have more questions than answers.”

I find that deeply encouraging.

We sometimes imagine that growing in faith means gradually collecting enough answers to remove all uncertainty. But Scripture often shows us something different. Faith is not always about knowing exactly what God is doing. Sometimes it is about trusting God enough to take the next step while we are still puzzled.

Listen in the story of Acts to Peter. He is “greatly puzzled” by the vision he has received. Before he can make sense of it, strangers arrive at the gate asking for him. While Peter is still thinking, the Spirit tells him to get up and go with them “without hesitation.”

I think the author of Acts is intentional about the description. Being puzzled and asked to respond without hesitation is showing us something special. Peter's willingness to move without complete understanding leads him across a boundary he had never expected to cross. In the home of Cornelius, Peter begins to see that God’s grace is larger than the categories he had inherited. The answers come only after he listens, welcomes, travels, and enters into relationship with someone he once might have avoided.

Sometimes I wish God would make it a little easier to understand just what we are supposed to do, be, and how we are to live. The more I read Scripture, the more I realize we live in the questions and mystery.  Instead, sometimes God gives us a person, a conversation, or an unexpected invitation. Like Peter, we may discover that faithfulness begins by getting up, going, and trusting, and maybe understanding will meet us along the way.

Faithfully,

John+

Questions for Self-reflection:
What question are you carrying today and how could that be an invitation to God?