June 23rd, 2020: Questions About God

 Tough Questions About God - Program 5 | John Ankerberg Show - John ...

I was on the C-train in Calgary a few years back on the way home from downtown. My mind was preoccupied with a conversation I had with a fellow who was about to buy his father's business out. It was intriguing interaction because he had all kinds of ideas about how to take that business to the next level. Suddenly, a young lady with a Parisian French accident appeared and told me (in her beautiful French): "Oh my God! It is you. Do you remember me? We met in Paris last summer". I had absolutely no clue what she was talking about because I was nowhere near Paris the summer before. So I told her: "I think you made a mistake Madame because I was teaching in Calgary last summer". She excused herself, but I had the feeling that she didn't believe me.

Why am I sharing this almost funny event with you? I think we have spent our time mistaking who God is (Please understand that I don't infer that I am God in the account). We asked questions such as "Where is God?" "Who is God?" "Does God really care?"...We either have a lot of ideas about God or absolutely no idea at all. For some people,  God is a good topic for intellectual discourses, for some others, talking about God can be a source of contention; for folks who grew up in believing homes, God can be the authority over life and death.

The young lady felt rejected because I basically said that we don't know each other. She might even think that it was a waste of time to know "the me" in her head in the first place. Sometimes we can feel abandoned by God and as if He says to us that he does not know us. Sometimes we might not even think to get God involved in our life. Sometimes we remember our own personal experiences with God, and yet sometimes we wonder how real they are. These are types of reactions and questions people tell me very often during my counseling with them.

If the young lady could overcome my initial response and sat down to have a conversation with me, I would have another intriguing encounter on that day. She could tell me about Paris, and I could talk to her about Banff and Calgary. If we can overcome our initial struggles and irritation with God, God will give us a chance to talk about our life, and then He will reveal to us about His home and His plan for us to get there.

Jeremiah 29: 11-13
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

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