AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 10:50:00 PM ----- BODY:

Is Abby going to be OK? Why did my friend have to die? Why did God allow that tragedy in Indonesia? Why did I get a ticket today and that other car didn"t? Why is my face breaking out on my wedding day? Why did my husband say those hurtful things to me after he said that he loved me? Is it ever going to rain again? Am I going to get cancer before I reach 50? Why doesn't anybody really love me? What if a comet hits the earth and we all die? Is the plane that I am flying in today going to crash? Why do my friends ignore me when I need them the most? Am I the only one who feels this lonely and depressed? Will the emptiness ever go away? When will life ever feel normal? Questions...we all have them. I have more questions as I get older than I have answers. In fact, answers seem to be a bit trite and simplistic at times. No, it doesn't mean that there are NO certainties in the world. Yes, the sun is still going to come up in the east...and yes, you are most likely alive this very moment, breathing while you read this...but not every question has an answer. Some questions are begging for answers...but begging in vain. Some things are just mysteries...a challenge to the heart that longs for God-like knowledge...temptations that would lead us to taste the forbidden fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. When we insist on having all the answers, we are flirting with that which plunged the world into its brokenness and despair. We are moving from a position of trust and dependance to a position of control. "We see these days things that look dim, like an image in a mirror that is distorted by fog...THEN we shall see completely and know completely, as completely as God knows us". Paul wrote these words in 1 Corinthians to tell us that love, true love, trusts! Trust is a challenge! We say we want to trust, but we would rather control. We say we love...but not if the object of our love doesn't play by our rules. To love is to give up control and lay in waiting...trusting...hoping...having faith in the nature and character of WHOM we love. Give up the quest for answers...know what you can know...what you are allowed to know...and rest in content that He who knows you, who knows all the answers, who has the goodness to be able to lay out a life that is far more abundant than anything we can ever dream or imagine or think, has your best interests at the core of His heart. Something for you to enjoy from now and through eternity. Questions without answers? Nervous? Anxious? Doubtful? or Trusting? Restful? Relaxed? Confident?

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:1:07 AM COMMENT-BODY:I found this post today and it struck a chord within. I'm in a similar situation with the health of a loved one and have many questions that are unanswered. Lately it's been a struggle for me to trust God's benevolence. Sure I have the head knowledge He's good and He has my best interest at heart, but how do I respond when I'm in the line of fire?

you wrote: "When we insist on having all the answers, we are flirting with that which plunged the world into its brokenness and despair. We are moving from a position of trust and dependence to a position of control."

Know that when I read your insights, it helped me from going further south spiritually.

- R. --------