Sermon Quotes: "When God Doesn't Answer Your Why Question"

“This is not the question of the armchair religious or philosophical dilettante, enjoying a stimulating debate. This is the agonized question of the wheelchair sufferer who feels he or she desperately needs an answer. In chapter 28 we stand back from the pain and the debates to ask why God will not answer the question, ‘Why?’” Christopher Ash

“The debate is done. Nothing is settled. The wit of men is exhausted, and God is still silent. The question does not have to be stated to enter our minds: ‘Where can we find wisdom?’” Francis Anderson

“Since the dialogue has reached an impasse, the author now makes his own comment on the powerlessness of man’s effort to penetrate the secrets that belong only to God.” Elmer Smick

“How we respond to this verse is a litmus test for our hearts. In a saying that is crucial to the whole book, God directs our attention away from our agonized questions and toward himself. He does not take us by the hand and lead us to the answers; rather he beckons us to bow before the Lord himself, who knows the answers but chooses not to tell us. We ask, ‘Why doesn’t God answer my question?’ To which he replies, ‘Turn your gaze and your inquiry away from the answer you want and toward the God you must seek.’ So do not seek wisdom; seek the Lord. This is deeply humbling. We should not expect to find wisdom (to know the answers to all our questions) but rather to bow in humble worship before the One who does and therefore turn away from evil.” Christopher Ash

“As believers, we cannot always know why, but we can always know why we trust God who knows why.” Os Guinness