Focus

Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.

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Read

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Reflect

In the old Bluff Park, Alabama, days, when she was around three years old, my
daughter used to ride along in the back seat of the car, look out of the window and ask
“How they make?” She was curious AND she just wanted to “make” conversation, I
reckon. So we would talk about how trees grow and why the sky is blue, and how
houses are built, and on and on until we reached our destination–which was usually the
grocery store or, on Sundays or Church Circle days, Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian
Church.

My son, who came along a few years later, had a different landscape and, often, a sister
to entertain him, so he was not nearly so likely to quiz me with the hows and whys of
what we saw–but he took it all in–never missed a thing, it turned out. They are still the
same people they were as children–one communicates and reaches out, the other
mostly keeps his thoughts to himself. (Of course nothing is immutable– and they do not
always adhere to type–none of us do.)

Habakkuk had some questions for God, and we can see that he did not hold back–he
vented for sure. Do you ever come before God like that? Have you ever asked God for
reasons or berated God for what you perceive as injustice?

I think that, if we are honest, we are all guilty of asking God to answer for God’s
actions; sometimes–like my little daughter, we may be just making conversation–wanting
attention, feeling kind of lonesome back there in the back seat. God wants to hear what
we have to say, and I don’t think that God minds one bit when we ask questions and
wonder. (Remember that Jesus said to be like a little child in our faith–and little children
are full of questions . .)

Think back this week to ways you have questioned God and how you came to see
God’s answers: Did you understand the “why” behind what happened? Did you come
to terms with what you first thought to be injustice or inequity?

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Pray

Most Holy God, grant us the confidence to come to you with our questions and our
problems. Help us, as well, to listen for the answers so that your will can be made clear
to us.

Amen