Day Fifteen

ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

—JEREMIAH 33:3 NIV

The fall in Scotland, my other home, is beautiful and crisp and the days get short in a blink, but those early-afternoon hours take on a golden hue that I’ve never seen before. After lunch one day in early October, I sat at the Starbucks across the street from the Eric Liddell Centre with just my journal, my Bible, a peach muffin, and a soy chai.

I felt totally alive. It was like every internal cylinder was firing and I was the optimum Annie. I began to journal, wondering what was causing my heart to live in a perpetual state of pure, happy explosion.

So I asked God a question: What is it, God, that makes me feel so alive?

At the time, that didn’t seem like a hard question, but sometimes just opening the lines of communication with God allows the Holy Spirit to lead you to the harder places.

I made a list of all the things that were true of my life at the moment. I was living in Scotland, I was single, and I was doing college ministry.

And quietly in my heart, I heard God say, You can do college ministry anywhere.

And I knew. I sat back in my chair, a little in awe, and said out loud to no one and everyone, “Oh. I’m going home.” Back to Nashville.

Sometimes we avoid asking God things because we fear what the answer will be, whether we’re asking Him why our lives feel so good, why He placed us where we are now, where He wants us to go next, or why something painful in our lives is still so painful. However, when it is God who answers, it isn’t something to be scared of.

Sometimes we avoid asking God things because we fear what the answer will be.

It takes bravery to ask the hard questions and listen for hard answers. But knowing that God works for your good and that His answers can be trusted is a great remedy for fear.

Don’t be afraid to ask God the things you really want to know. You may not get the answer you expect, but you will get an answer. Maybe sometimes you won’t know why. Or you don’t really want to know why. Or you don’t even know what you’re asking or what His answer will lead you to or away from.

Whatever it is, you can ask. Even if and when things are hard, you can always ask God, What’s Your plan for me? What am I supposed to be learning right now? And He will show You the answer. And those answers, my friend? They are the answers that bring peace. Ask God the hard questions.

BE BRAVE: What is one question you’ve been afraid to bring to God? Ask Him the question right now, out loud, and listen for His answer.