Psalm 13.

How long, O Lord?

got this in my inbox this a.m. from my dear friend Stephanie Powell...
please pray for the Gibsons. They live just a couple miles away from my dad's house, and are very sweet people.


Angie (Boyd) Gibson gave birth to her twin girls today due to toxemia and some other medical issues. The girls are very small, one is 1 pound 14 ounces and the other is just over 2 pounds. They are at St Mary's in Evansville. Please pray for Angie, her husband, and these two precious girls. Also pray for their family. Thanks for your prayers.




I think that if my faith isn't big enough to ask questions then I don't really have a lot of faith. For example, I think it is farce not to ask questions about why God would allow things like this to happen. It takes more faith to ask the tough questions than it does to pretend they don't exist.

I ask God questions because His word teaches me that

1. His character is loving---so He doesn't get angry about me asking.
2. His word says that we don't have a Great High Priest who can't sympathize with our humanity and the need for understanding that we have because of it.


We would be crazy as believers not to occasionally look up toward Heaven and say, "God, I don't get this. I soooo don't get it." I had that conversation with the Lord yesterday.

"How long O Lord? How much longer will I see lots of brothers and sisters like Matt and Rachel be in pain? How long O Lord will you hide your face from these hopeful parents with broken hearts? How long is it going to take for the Knepp family to heal? And why did you allow that, Lord? I know you didn't cause it. But I still don't understand."


I think that when it comes to our relationship with God, honesty is the best policy--He already knows what you are thinking in your "secret heart" (Psalm 51:6). We might as well be transparent in our painful struggles to figure out the hurts and sort out the questions that come with them in this life.

When Jesus told us to have faith like little children, we assume that we have the same understanding of children that He had.

We forget that children don't just go along with anything. Instead, they repeatedly ask questions until they are satisfied.
Why is the sky blue
Why is the grass green
Why is chocolate brown (Ok, I ran out, but you get the idea....)


God doesn't expect us to always just assume His character. That's why we have His word. Now we can read and believe instead of making assumptions. When the difficult times in our lives beg the question, we shouldn't bury it and tell ourselves that we have no faith for asking it in our hearts. Instead, we should reach for the Invisible God, to borrow from Phillip Yancey, and dare to let him lead us into all truth by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Who knows? Starting out with our rants and questions might lead us to a David moment...Notice in Psalm 13 how his honest accusations and questions of God lead him to a place of healing.



1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.



I trust in a God who is not afraid of my human struggle for greater understanding. Do you?