"Why are you downcast O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?"

Times of trouble seem to come unexpectedly, and even overwhelmingly. There are many questions associated with times of trouble, such as:

• Why bad things happen at all?
• Where is God in difficult times?
• Why did God allow this to happen?

How do we view times of trouble? Do we question God's goodness? Do we believe that our experience is our own fault? Or is it God's judgment? Does God visit pain and anguish on us for bad things we have done? Does He do so capriciously?

Is it right to question God?
A clue to this comes from the book of Job. The book of Job ends with an answer from God that does not seem so much like an answer:
God says in Job 40:2

"Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!"

For the prior and next two chapters, a series of questions direct Job to God's incredible power. Job ends with his own statements in Job 42:2-6

"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you and you shall answer me.'

My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Is this an answer? Many throw up their hands saying, "If the answer is not to question God, then what kind of God is he?" Does Job end with a "you cannot question God" explanation for evil?

No.

The point is not the "error" of questioning God, rather, the point is what understanding you receive when you see God face to face. Job's repentance was not for questioning God, rather for himself as a man and his repentance arose from seeing God.

A very similar thing occurred to Isaiah is chapter 6 verse 5

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."

What is it about "seeing God" that removes questioning and brings on an immediate need for repentance?

Remember the statement of King David in Psalm 73 where he just cannot understand the prosperity of the wicked? He comes to the point where he says,

"When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny." (73: 16, 17)

What happens when someone actually sees God? Obviously it completely changes their perspective. It is an experience that will change one's focus from the confines of the topic of the moment to the expanse of the entirety of all life and the entire universe. God is a wonder so overwhelming that the most difficult experiences of life shrink to absolutely nothing in the light of such a Presence.

To many, this would seem nonsense. To many, this may seem to be no answer at all--a "cop-out". They may say, "But what about this situation that is important right now?" The only way such a question can still be asked is that the individual asking the question, being finite, has not experienced the Infinite.

Every circumstance documented in scripture involving an encounter with the marvels of God's Presence results in the same response--overwhelming awe, complete and overwhelming humility, causing even the most difficult of moments to become a distant memory.

Humans by nature ask questions. Humans by nature cannot understand what cannot be seen. Humans by nature are finite. When a human being, limited by space and time, experience a moment of Infinity without bound of space and time, the overwhelming nature of such an experience is too complex even to describe. To the uninitiated, it cannot be understood. Humans, by nature, tend to reject answers they cannot understand. This is why to many, the statements of Job, Isaiah, and David are not "real" answers to their questions. It is also why scripture, which documents repentance upon seeing God, is generally viewed by human beings (erroneously) as statements of principle that one should not question God.

You can question God. That is not a problem, and He does not mind.

Yet, when you do, remember that if He "shows up", you too will fall to your knees in repentance... but not repenting of asking any questions, rather repenting of everything in your life because that Divine Presence will be more than your mortal frame can endure.