Good evening, instead of morning this time. I hope all is well with you. Thank you for clicking on my blog. I do hope you gain something of value from your time reading it.

Occasionally, I jot down a note on topics that I would like to write about. Sometime later, as I settle at my desk to write, the right one comes popping up in my notes. As I quickly selected My Many Whys and started this blog, I glanced up. The first thing my eyes landed on was a note card from a Bible study our ladies’ group had done the previous spring. It was titled Trustworthy by Lysa Terkeurst. It was great studying the results of our choices and God’s trustworthiness through the ages. I love the notecards that came with the study guide. They serve as handy reminders that I posted right there in plain sight on my desk hutch. This particular card says, “We don’t have to understand the why of God’s ways. But we do have to keep choosing to follow them.”  I am a bit amused that I chose the topic, glanced up, and saw a study note that confirmed my selection. The Lord often puts a smile on my face. 😊

It is common for most children to begin asking questions at an early age. After all, there is a whole big world that we need answers to, right? I have to be at the top of the list, maybe a record breaker, in the number of questions I asked. My go-to person for most answers was my Dad (My Mom was for the domestic and girly things). I thought Dad knew absolutely everything there is to know. Keeping in mind I have four older siblings, so I thought he had all the answers figured out by the time he got to me. Actually, by the time he got to me, he was understandably worn out with the barrage of the previous inquiries! And remember, I was not only over-the-top inquisitive, but there were times I would ask questions only to strike up a conversation with my Dad.

My poor Dad would occasionally tell me to stop asking so many questions, and at times, he would tell me to “think” before I asked a question. Why would I do that? I wanted the answer from him. Lol! And if he didn’t answer the question to my satisfaction and I came back with another “why?”, he sometimes said, “Because I said so, that’s why!” Keep that in mind because there is a connection.

A few months before my eleventh birthday, my parents had my baby sister. As she grew, I learned quickly about young, inquisitive minds. Reflecting on it, it is really kind of cute. “Why do some animals sleep standing up?” Now, that is a valid question, right? “Why do I have to go to bed early while you stay up late?” Another one with validity. “Since worms are so sticky, why don’t they stick back together when they get broken apart?” Correct me if I’m wrong, but that could be an original of mine. I remember actually asking my Dad that question! I think that was one of the times his answer was, “Don’t ask so many questions.” Lol!

By the time I entered elementary school, my Dad had not accomplished his fatherly duties in satisfying my ever-growing list of questions.  Now it was the teachers’ turn. But at the wise old age of six, I had decided that Dad was right. I asked too many questions, and I needed to “think” first. Coupled with being very shy, my many questions ceased, for a while anyway. It took some hard years of silence and growing out of my shyness before I was brave enough to speak up again. On the positive side, by listening to others, learning to research, and “thinking” before asking, my questions became more valid. But, as always, there are more questions than can be answered in a lifetime.

Now I have a question for you. 🙂 Do you remember when you discovered that your parents didn’t have all the answers? Somehow, it helps us realize they are human, just as we are. So we need to give them the same Grace that the Lord gives us, right? Remember how God created us? He does! Psalm 103:14 NKJV “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust”.

As we journey through our lives, we have many things that we may never understand or have answers to. And for those of you who never knew your Father, or either parent for that matter, this can bring up even bigger questions.

By growing spiritually and getting to know our heavenly Father better, we can be certain that He has all the answers.  We are His children, and He loves it when we seek answers from Him, our all-knowing God. When we are seeking Him and His ways, He says in Jeremiah 29:12-13 NKJV, “Then you will call upon Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” And in Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Wow, not only will we discover more of our Father’s character, but more of His answers for our every need.

And when we have those questions that we don’t understand the answers to…, “We don’t have to understand the why of God’s ways.” Sometimes we accept it, as my Dad said, “Because He said so, that’s why.” That is why our comprehension of His trustworthiness is of paramount importance.

Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”  Bigger questions, bigger trust!

When you continue to read the second half of the notecard, it completes the thought… “But we do have to keep choosing to follow them.” Follow His ways even when we don’t understand, because we can trust that His ways are always better than anything we can devise ourselves. In our Trustworthy study, we took a deeper look at nine of the Kings in 1^st and 2^nd Kings in the Old Testament. If we weren’t convinced previously that following God’s ways is better than our own, these Kings’ choices convinced us. So we don’t “have” to choose to follow God’s ways, we get to! And we receive all of the benefits of a life well lived in Christ, the Fruit of the Spirit.

So, as I conclude My Many Whys, I thank God that I can ask all of the questions I have for Him, and He welcomes my seeking Him and His ways. I don’t have to understand because I am confident in His trustworthiness to have all of the perfect answers and to direct my path in His perfect ways.

This could be why He gave me these words at the end of my poem, The Perfect Plan in “Blue Skies, Butterflies and Battlegrounds”.

“Finally, I tell you, He does hear our requests,

He will answer in His time, so put your mind at rest.

He created the universe…so surely, for His children, He knows what’s best!

And each Resurrection Day, we proclaim His control, even over His own death,

 As we celebrate the Master’s perfect plan with every God-given breath!”

Isaiah 26:3-4 NKJV “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever. For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”

God bless and keep you even in your many whys and all your ways,

Reba