A Question of Questions

"It you don't ask questions than people will ask them for you. Or rather, if you don't ask the questions of others, they will ask the questions of you."

I've never really been one to just go along with everything that others say and do, or have said and done. I like to ask questions. I like to push boundaries. I like to push and prod and poke at any place I sense could hold a flaw or a weak spot.

This doesn't mean that I like to destroy things. Don't get that false impression from me. It just means that I like to see where things go. I like to see how things happen. I like to see what holds and what doesn't as I push against it. I push against a lot of things. That's what makes them strong. I like to be certain and sure of things.

That's what has made my testimony of Jesus Christ so strong. That is one thing I am totally sure about.

When I push against things, or when I want to become sure about something, I am the kind of person that needs evidence. This doesn't mean that I need physical evidence. I have had more evidence of the existence and divinity of Jesus Christ than anything else in my life, and most of it was not physical. Yet it still has all been just as strong, if not stronger.

There seem to be some people in this world who have just followed in the same paths as the people before them simply because, "That's just how it's done." This could include any types of pathways in this world, including relational, educational, religious, or emotional pathways. That idea also includes a lack in any area. Such as deciding not to get an education, not believing in God, or avoiding relationships altogether.

Perhaps they're not following all that with those thoughts so explicitly in their minds ("That's just how it's done."), but if it's not in their minds it still definitely seems to be very implicit.

They don't question things much, if at all. They definitely don't question it enough. "Why do they believe that? Or why do you do that?"
"Well, because others were."

Do you really think that is going to hold when you stand before God? Or when you stand before anyone, for that matter? If you don't actually believe (or not believe) it for yourself, than why are you still walking on that path? Why don't you look around for a minute and think about your surroundings and what you're walking on?

Sometimes people think it's wrong to question good things. Some seemingly good things can be wrong though. And you'll never know until you ask. You'll never know if something you're doing is really good until you ask either.

When you ask, when you push, when you prod, or when you poke, it begins to help you put a sharp sword between the good and the bad, the right and the wrong. Your life takes on a lot more meaning and clarity. You become better able to move forward and change and grow. You're taking your life into your own hands!!

And yet people look at me as I push against things and they think that's so wrong. They think I should not questions things that others have already determined to be right and good. But I have not yet determined for myself that those things are right and good, and I do not want those things in my life to be left in the hands of others. I want them squarely in my own.

Some people also think that I will just be forever skeptical and that I will never find evidence for or satisfaction in anything. But that's not true at all! I have found a lot of proof and evidence in so many ways. And what I have found, and have seen, and have learned for myself I can now hold onto with all of my might!

Because I can. Because I know it for myself now. If I didn't know it for myself, than I couldn't.

This also doesn't mean that I need to try everything to know for myself either. Such as drugs or alcohol or theft or anything else like that. There are other ways you can learn for yourself that there are some things that are just not healthy for you or your life.

Every time I find something to be solid, I am then able to climb higher. It is a stair step. We push and push against the wall, and it holds. So we look up and realize it is a stair step, not a wall. And we are able to climb higher.

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*Clarifying note. At some point since writing this I had two different friends ask me within two days why I ask so many questions of them. It is a little different when I am asking questions of people vs. when I am asking questions of life.

When it comes to people, I just love learning about them. I love understanding their thoughts, their lives, their dreams, their hopes, and their struggles. We're all facing this craziness called Life and everyone is coming through it in some absolutely amazing and different ways. It just blows my mind every time I hear another story from a friend, a loved one, or even a stranger.

Understand that I mean no harm, but there are amazing things about every person. And I love finding the gems inside each individual as they share their incredible thoughts and feelings buried inside their heart and mind. Perhaps they don't teach me things explicitly, but just watching life play out from their point of view as they bare just a piece of their heart is always an absolutely incredible experience to me.


Tara


Copyright April 2016