I remember clearly the first time God asked me a question. It was ambiguous, puzzling, and frustrating. I was confused. Was there a right answer and a wrong answer? Surely there must be, for God was asking. And clearly, the correct answer was the one that I dreaded? Wasn’t it? The answer that I did not want to give? But how was I to know? What was I supposed to do with this question? And why would God ask me a question in the first place?
Surely God should just tell me what to do. And I’ll do it. Hopefully. Even though it might be a struggle. Isn’t that the way that it works? That is how we have been designed. Haven’t we?
This question that God asked, it sat in my mind, got under my skin. I did not know what to do with it. And so one day, I asked someone. Maybe I should have done that a whole lot sooner. But it took me a long time to get up the courage to do so. One day I just blurted it out. I said, “why would God ask me a question?”
And the reply? For me, it was unexpected. I was told that God asks questions because he wants to be in conversation with us. You see, He isn’t looking for robots. God doesn’t merely want people who do what He says, though he does want us to do that too. But God is looking for a relationship.
I think of Eden and of Adam and Eve walking and talking with God in the cool of the day. And I wonder, what kind of conversations did they have? I see God presenting the hippopotamus to Adam and asking him, what will you call this? But did he also ask Adam if he liked him? Did he say to him, “have you seen his mouth? Look at those teeth!” Or I imagine God showing Adam a butterfly and exclaiming over the beauty and the intricacy of her wings. Did Adam marvel at the colouring? When Adam suggested a name. Did he get it right straight away or did God sometimes laugh and then suggest he try again?
The relationship with God that I have longed for for so long. This longing is not rooted in me. It is merely a reflection, an echo, of the heart of God himself.
And so I have tried to cultivate a relationship with God where I give him space to ask me questions, and where we discuss what that question means. I ask him questions in return, and I have learnt to wait for his answers. For I long for this kind of relationship, for this kind of conversation. I believe that this is what God yearns for too. That this is the kind of relationship that we were created to have with the Creator, Maker and Giver of life.
Father, thank you. Thank you that you have made us to know you and be known by you in return. Thank you that you created us to live in deep communion with you. Teach us to listen, to wait, to hear what is on your heart. Give us ears to hear the questions that you ask. And give us the courage to ask questions in return. Teach us to dialogue with you. May we be people who live in conversation with you day by day. Amen
So, does God/has God asked you questions? Is this something that happens regularly? Should it? How are we to cultivate a life where it does?
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