The Question We Should Ask Ourselves Every Day
We’ve been dealing with existential questions in our home this week.
My first-born just turned 3, and true to form, she’s started asking me “Why?” about everything. And not just one “why,” but a series of them, one after another.
It looks like this:
“Alright, Carissa, hand me those pants so I can put them on Amelia please.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise she’ll be cold.”
“Why?”
“Because we have the air conditioning on.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s really hot outside.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re at the end of summer.”
“Why?”
“Because God created the world with different seasons.”
“Why?”
“Because He loves us!”
“Why?”
“….. I don’t know.”
.
.
.
[silence]
.
.
.
“Why?”
*facepalm*
Seriously, child?
I hope you’re chuckling along with me, because our stream of existential “why’s” has led to no shortage of head-scratching moments. I truly love that my daughter is so curious, and she actually remembers the answers I give her. She’s like a little sponge, soaking up every last details and filing it away for future use.
And while her incessant “why’s” can be frustrating at times (Really, just put your shoes on already! We’re running late.) they have also made me pause and reflect on my own life.
How often do we do things mindlessly, without really thinking through the reasons for our actions?
Scripture tells us that our hearts are deceitful: they trick us into doing things we don’t really want to do (Jeremiah 17:9-10). But God searches our hearts and tests our minds, and we can ask Him to reveal if there’s anything there that we need to confess, surrender, or change.
“Search me, o God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious ways. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)
Today, I encourage you to join me in allowing God to ask us “Why?” Why do we do the things we do? What’s motivating our actions? Is there anything in our hearts that needs to be rooted out?
Let’s invite God to search our hearts today and lead us in His eternal pathways.
With much joy,
Asheritah
In avoidance of useless scrupulosity, I have found that if I wish God to search my heart I must first ask Him to possess my heart. Taking note of the fact that most Christians believe in the human potential to be possessed by the devil, why then would we not all the more be convinced that we may be possessed by God if we offer ourselves in consummate vulnerability to Him. Are we not promised by Jesus that “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. Then my Father will love him, and we will go to him and make our home within him”. It does not say “I” will, It says “We” will make our home within you. Imagine that! God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit resident within you just because you approached Him in an act of surrender and made yourself available to Him. If you consent to become so possessed by God as Jesus promised we may, within your heart will soon reside a fire and a passion for communion with the One who created you so great, you find yourself unable to resist His advance. When He is so recognized, no passion in you will be greater than that of pleasing Him alone, and that of becoming within you a perfect expression of love for Him at every cognitive moment. All that is not God will be shed out of hand because all that is not God is immediately identified and found repugnant to us by comparison to Him as He resides within us. This does not mean that you or I become perfect. It means that we may know that we are loved by our God, passionately and perfectly and are availed of the ability to respond to Him in kind if we choose because that is His promise to us.
Thank u for this I need to read this now I know how to calm down and ask myself why do I do the things that I do! And pray….