By Lee Armstrong
Victory Life Church
Have you ever wondered why God asks so many questions? I believe it’s because the right question can cause us to think outside the box.
I’ve heard it said often that the man who asks the right question is the one who leads the meeting. I have found this to be true. The right question can change your thinking and even your very destiny.
When God asks a question, it isn’t because he doesn’t know the answer! So when He asked, “Adam, where are you?” it wasn’t because Adam was so well-camouflaged that he couldn’t see him. The question was meant to get Adam to think at a higher level. Adam needed to see “I’m hiding from God,” as if that was even possible! Then God asked him a second question, “Who told you that you were naked?” Again, Adam needed to see to whom he was listening.
Jesus was constantly asking people questions and if you’ll go back and read those accounts, you’ll see the questions always struck at the core of the problem or the thing that was the most important issue to getting them the help they needed.
Let me show you again the power of changing your question. For thousands of years, we asked the question, “Where is the water?” We knew before we could build a house, town or community anywhere we needed access to water. Then someone asked a better question: “How can we get water to us?” And that one question changed our lives forever. We now build virtually wherever we want to and pump the water to us.
Another way in which the power of the right question can change your life is in the area of what some call your ‘self-talk.’ That simply means the things you say and think in your head. You know, the questions you ask yourself when things don’t go so well. Questions like, “Why doesn’t anything ever go right for me?”, “Why doesn’t anybody like me?”, “Why is everyone against me?”
That kind of questions will ultimately lead you to a hopeless victim mentality. But, if you change your ‘self-talk’ questions to, “What can I do to be a better friend?”, “What does this person need from me?”, “What can I do right now that will help me get out of this dilemma?”, “What can I learn from this situation that will help me in the future?” or “Who do I know that can help me get the information and understanding I need?” When we change our questions to these kinds of questions we feel empowered and equipped.
I have learned that I don’t necessarily need to know all the right answers because asking the right question may help me even more.
P.S. If God asks you a question, it isn’t because He doesn’t know the answer!