God's Word is GREAT at confronting you and me with questions.
Questions to help us see God — His heart, His character, His plans, and His promises — with a bit more clarity.
Questions to help us see ourselves; who we are and who we're not with a bit more clarity.
And questions to help us see a situation or circumstance we find ourselves in from His eternal perspective rather than our often short-sighted, in-the-moment perspective.
Some questions are easier to answer, while others require serious soul-searching. Some lead us to repentance, while others remind us of all the good things we have in knowing and walking with God.
And for the sake of clarity — the questions coming from God and His Word are never for Him. They're for us. Meaning, the questions coming our way from God's Word are not for His benefit, as if He's seeking to gather information He does not already have. God uses questions in His Word to help us see Him, ourselves, or a situation we're in with the eternal clarity we need.
The questions aren't always easy, but they are good — and here's why I say that: questions coming from God have a way, if we let them, of slowing us down. His questions have the ability to break through our defenses in order to help us see what's really happening within our hearts and souls... and what's happening within His heart that He doesn't want us to miss.
Over the next few weeks, maybe longer, I'm going to share with you questions God's Word is confronting me with. My hope is that God might use them to slow us all down just a bit — long enough that we don't miss what He has for ALL of us.
Today, I was in Genesis… yep, starting another six-month journey through the Scriptures with my son, Tristan.
The question I was confronted with was from a verse that doesn't even ask a question. The question came from a statement someone made about someone else.
See this with me in Genesis 21, when a man named Abimelech comes to Abraham and says:
"God is obviously with you, helping you in everything you do."
Genesis 21:22 (NLT)
Just so you know, Abimelech wasn't a follower of the One True God… he was a Philistine king — a man outside the people of God. And yet, watching Abraham's life, he couldn't help but say it out loud… it’s OBVIOUS.
When I read that verse, one word stopped me in my tracks…
OBVIOUS.
Not "I suspect God might be with you."
Not "there's something a little different about your life."
OBVIOUS.
When someone uses that word, they're simply saying they don't need to explain it further — it's right there for anyone watching to see.
And with that one verse came the question I was confronted with:
IS IT OBVIOUS THAT GOD IS WITH ME?
Not is it true that God is with me.
Not is it something someone would affirm after listening to a Sunday sermon.
IS IT OBVIOUS…
to the people I live with – my wife and kids?
IS IT OBVIOUS…
to the people I work with – the GENESIS staff?
IS IT OBVIOUS…
to my neighbors – the people I live around?
Is it OBVIOUS to anyone and everyone who watches how I navigate life — whether good, bad, or somewhere in between?
If you don’t mind, let me ask you what Genesis 22:21 asks ALL of us…
‘Would the Abimelech’s in your life — the people who aren't necessarily walking with God themselves — look at how you live and be able to say, without hesitation, "God is with you"?’
What makes this such a hard but necessary question for all of us is that it forces us to consider whether our lives are giving evidence to those around us of what we believe.
If you're not familiar with Abraham's story, he was not a perfect man — far from it. He lied, he doubted, he took shortcuts God never asked him to take. And yet despite Abraham’s imperfections, it was still OBVIOUS to Abimelech.
Here’s why knowing that matters… rather than be discouraged by the question, I found myself greatly encouraged and NOT because it's already as obvious as I'd like it to be in my life, but because of this reality…
MY IMPERFECTIONS CANNOT HIDE HIS PRESENCE.
The invitation from God to ALL of us is to walk so closely with Him that even our imperfect, sinful lives CANNOT hide His presence.
As we continue to walk with God and HELP one another walk with God, be encouraged to know that it will become increasingly OBVIOUS to those around us that…
HE’S REALLY WITH US!
