Asking the Wrong Question

A couple of things have come up in the last week that, in short, point to me asking the wrong question.

For the first situation, for lack of better words, I was asking why. Now, I do think that why can be a good question, but there are a lot of times when it just isn't. Sometimes, even if there is an answer to the why, it doesn't matter. It doesn't help. When you are hurting, it doesn't stop the pain. In life, especially in matters of suffering, the question to ask isn't why but rather what now.

What now? What now reminds us that there is a now--a now to be lived. It reminds us that there is a next step. Healing can come; we have permission to grieve and to move forward. What now permits us to walk by faith and exercise trust.

In many ways, the second situation is like the first, only without such an aspect of suffering. Although there is pain in the process, it is really a matter of waiting...and waiting...and waiting.

Last night I heard a talk in conjunction with Acts 9 (Saul's conversion). It started with, everything can change in a moment and one question can change your life. There was lots of good stuff in the middle but for this post I'll skip to the end. The speaker challenged us to start asking different questions.

For some that were there last night, and perhaps some reading this blog, the question has been Am I happy? or Is this what I want? If that's the case, maybe it's time to start asking Am I making a difference?

For others, myself included, the question basically boiled down to what's next? And this, far more a matter of the next step--not the next phase and every step it will take to get to and through it, not the five year plan and all the who, where, when, why, and how, just the next step.

A psalmist wrote, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.*" The lamp he wrote about wasn't a 1,000 candle power flashlight or a 3-way switch lamp. It was more like a candle...a larger flame probably, but no maglite. It lit the next step.

At the end of our time together last night, in small groups, we talked about how we could be praying for each other. I wanted for them to pray that God would show me the path, the plan, the next phase. Instead, I asked them to pray that I would ask the right question and have the grace and courage to be obedient.

Jesus didn't say, "Here's the plan. Are you in?" He said, "Follow me." A lot of times I think that I want God's plan to be a place, a person, a job. Instead he invites me to a journey--to a position in which my heart and life are turned toward him. So, once again I remember that he is not just my God or Savior, he is my Lord. I align myself with him and I will take the next step even if I don't know the step after that.** I will walk by faith.


* Psalm 119:105
** I still don't know what the next step is, but for this moment, I'm okay with that. I still have plenty to do, work on, and in which to participate.
*** Special thanks to Rob Bell, Philip, and Bobby