Do you know how many questions a four year old asks in a day? According to a recent study, they ask an average of over four hundred questions in a day. Astounding! I knew they asked many questions, but I honestly did not realize it was that many.
The strange thing about a four year old is they are usually thinking of the next question before you answer the last one. This can be cute or annoying, depending on if it is question three or question 399. It does make you wonder. Does the child want to know answers, or does he just want to keep asking questions? Have you ever wondered if they are trying to see if you know the answers? Maybe, their little minds are going so fast they just can’t slow down to process the information. I do know that we need to foster that curiosity in a positive direction.
As children get older, we need to try to teach them how to look up the answers to their questions. Perhaps as teachers in school or at home, this would be a valuable lesson. We will not always be around, and as I am sure you know, we don’t always know the answers. I think children sometimes delight when they give you a question you can’t answer. I do not have a problem with saying, “I am not sure. Let’s look it up!”
Some teenagers and adults have a tendency to keep asking the same question to different people until they get someone who agrees with them. They will ask fifteen people and get the same answer. They finally ask a “friend” that tells them what they want to hear, and they go out and do something stupid. It is very frustrating for counselors to see that their counsel was ignored for guidance that was not Scriptural.
I guess the question one must ask is “Are all people seeking answers?” Obviously not! Many people use questions as a means not to do what God has called them to do. It may be they reject the call to Salvation because they don’t have all of the answers yet. We put God on trial because we do not understand why He allowed something to happen. I am not saying we can’t ask God why. I am saying we must be content with “Wait and see.” We may not see until we get to Heaven.
What happens when God doesn’t answer our questions the way we want Him to? What happens when our questions about God come up with no answer? Many times people will ask, “Why did God allow this to happen?” I cannot tell you why He has chosen in His sovereignty to allow bad things to happen on this earth. Sin and our free will to do as we please is the cause of most of our problems. Many times people make choices and want to know why God does not snap His fingers and fix their mess. We also need to remember that Satan gets some credit because Adam did give him the title deed to the earth.
Many times I would like to take a bolt of lightning and get rid of a few problems down here. Good thing I am not God. God is merciful and He loves us very much. When we don’t get the answers to our questions, we have to trust Him. When we take our babies to the doctor and they have to get shots, don’t you know they are looking at us and asking, “Why are you letting them do this to me? You are supposed to protect me.” As tears flow down the parent’s face, she is thinking how she wishes she could get her baby to understand everything that is happening is for his good.
Is God any different? He loves us with perfect love. He knows what is going on in our lives down here. He knows that the vaccines of life are coming our direction. Sometimes we make bad decisions, and we get a shot we did not need. Other times the vaccine we received could help us grow and be strong. One struggle will prepare us for a bigger struggle. Just like a parent holding their child for a shot, God holds us through our struggles, too.
We want our children to trust us when they have questions about what we are doing in their lives. We want them to believe in us as parents that we would never do anything to hurt them. Should we not give God the same courtesy? Should we not give God the same trust?
When we have questions about God’s decisions in our lives or in other people’s lives, we must have faith in Him. There will be lots of questions that we can go to His Word and answer. But, for the questions we cannot answer, have the faith of a child. I do not think a child’s love and faith in us depends on our ability to answer 400 questions in a day. Neither should our faith and trust in God rest on our knowing the answers to all of our questions. We must trust Him!
Mrs. Worthington has five children and eleven grandchildren. She serves as Principal of Pathway Christian Academy in Goldsboro.