Devotional: Asking the Obvious

"Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?""

‭‭Luke‬ ‭1:34‬ ‭NASB‬‬

When the angel said that Mary would be with child, she asked the obvious. "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"  The angel didn't reprimand her for asking a question about something that was obvious  to her. He just explained how it would be, and she believed Him.

I've often heard it said that we shouldn't question God.  But Mary questions God.  Mary asks what is obvious to her.  After all, how could she be found with child when she isn't married and not promiscuous? She wasn't asking in a scoffing, unbelieving way, but rather in curious innocence as to how this would happen. The angel explained it to her and she accepted it.  It's all in how we question that makes questioning God right or wrong.

How often do we go to God's Word and read something that speaks directly to our situation and instead of being like Mary, asking the obvious in innocence, and accepting what God has said, we think, "Yeah right. How is that ever going to work out?"

Here is an example I'm dealing with.  My daughter has some big changes coming in her life  come July, and in November or December, will be moving to her assigned apprenticeship. We do not know where this will be or how far she will have to move.  She has never lived on her own, is small for her age and I worry about her safety.  But God says,

 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?  If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?                  Luke 12:25- 26 

Basically, God tells me that I can't change a thing with my worrying, and yet I lay awake at night brooding over what might happen to her in the big city all alone in the winter.  I am asking the obvious.  "How can You send her to a strange, potentially unsafe place and keep her safe?"  God has showed me many times in His Word that I am not supposed to worry.  But my questions of Him aren't so much in innocence but in unbelief.  This is where I need to be more like Mary and just bow to His Word and accept it.  He knows how to protect her if that is His will, and if something else is in His plan, He will use it for His glory.  My worrying and laying awake at night won't keep her any safer then if I just simply trusted God.  All it does is rob last night my sleep and steal today's joy.

So how do you question God about the obvious?  Is it in humble curiosity, trusting God's answer, or do you question in unbelief, not truly trusting Him?  Questioning God is not wrong, it's all in how we ask the questions that make it right or wrong.