“[Israel]
sinned even more against [The Lord] by rebelling against the Most High in the
wilderness. And they tested God in their heart by asking for the food of
their fancy. Yes, they spoke against God; they said, ‘Can God prepare a
table in the wilderness?’ Behold, He struck the rock so that waters
gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can
He provide meat for His people?” Psalm 78:17-20 NKJV
If
we never ask questions, we never learn anything. Experiences in life will
happen, of course, whether we ask questions or not. It is a passive way
of learning by just taking what comes, and we often learn harsh lessons from
these experiences … and sometimes not! Asking questions, however, means
we are not sitting passively by and waiting for things to happen. It is
the inquisitive mind which wants to know something. It is how we learn
best. What we learn, however, depends on what we are looking for and for
what purpose.
Israel’s
journey through the wilderness was to accomplish a couple of things. They
were going somewhere, of course, but the extra time needed in the wilderness
was for one specific purpose: to learn more about the God who was leading them
to the Promised Land. Before they would be allowed to enter into the “land
of milk and honey”, they would need to know about the God whom they would be
called to serve. This they learned through the Law. Along the way,
as they constantly tested this relationship and the power of this God, they
learned some harsh lessons. By the words of the text, however, it seems
they did not learn very well.
There
is nothing wrong with asking questions. The journey we are on as
Christians requires questions. The manner in which we ask these
questions, however, speaks volumes about what we think we want to know against
what The Lord needs us to know. These questions, as expressed by the
psalmist, were asked in a manner by which the power and the mercy of The Lord
were questioned. These questions were not about whether The Lord would
provide; the questions were more along the lines of whether The Lord could
provide. There is a big difference.
“You
ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your
pleasures.”
James 4:3 NKJV
So
it begins not with the questions themselves, but with the motivation for the
questions as we must first question ourselves. What is it we seek, and
why do we seek it? Are we trying to test The Lord, or are we earnestly
seeking His will? There defines the real nature of the relationship we
claim to have with The Lord. Even if we never ask, this also defines
actually the relationship we do not have with The Lord.
Before
we question The Lord and His purposes, we need first to ask ourselves what we
expect to gain from this relationship. Are we seeking the good life for
ourselves and our families, a spot in Heaven only for ourselves and those we
love, or are we fully pursuing a relationship with The Lord in the
here-and-now? We should know the correct answer, but whether we are
willing to ask the right questions for the right reasons indicates whether we
should bother asking at all.
For
the sake of the Holy Church, let us learn to ask the right questions for the
right reasons so our Father may be glorified and our neighbors draw closer to
learn more themselves.
Blessings,
Michael
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