When the Questions Get Deep: Wrestling with Divine Distance

Brothers and sisters, if you’ve ever felt the quiet ache of unanswered prayers, or if you’ve stood in a quiet moment with the weight of a question too big for words—like, *“Why?”*—you know the feeling. It’s a wrestling match, isn't it? It’s the kind of spiritual grit that makes you want to throw your hands up and shout the deepest theological question you can muster.

We’ve all been there. Maybe it’s after a difficult missionary discussion, or perhaps after a time when the Spirit felt distant during a quiet study session. We look up at the heavens, or maybe we look inward at our own hearts, and we ask: *Why?*

The scripture passage we were looking at today, drawn from Psalm 74, echoes that raw, human cry: “Why have you rejected us? Why is your anger against the flock of your pasture?” It’s the sound of a heart that feels abandoned by the very Shepherd it trusts. It’s a question every disciple, whether seasoned or newly called, must learn to voice and, more importantly, learn to *receive* an answer to.

The Preparation for the Answer

What’s so challenging about these questions? It’s not the asking; it’s the *receiving*. We are so prepared to ask the hard questions—we’ve studied the doctrines, we’ve memorized the answers for our companions—that we sometimes forget to prepare ourselves to *hear* the answer when it comes.

The wisdom gleaned from wrestling with these passages is profound: When we ask God why He seems distant, the answer we receive might not be the comforting reassurance we desperately want to hear. It might point to a sin we’ve become complacent about, or a relationship we’ve refused to forgive—a wound we’ve kept open, refusing to let the healing flow.

This is where our discipleship becomes so much more than just knowing facts for a missionary discussion. It becomes about self-inventory. It’s about the willingness to be accountable to the Spirit’s gentle, sometimes uncomfortable, nudge.

The Disciple Anywhere

This principle—that we must be ready to hear the truth, whatever it is—is the very heart of being an rogue disciple. It means that whether you are in your living room, in a professional setting, or miles away from the nearest meetinghouse, you are prepared to be an internet missionary. You are ready to listen to the question, and more importantly, you are ready to listen to the Spirit guiding your answer.

If you feel like you’ve been coasting on what you *think* you know, I encourage you to take a moment this week to review your own heart. Where is the area where you are resisting the Spirit’s promptings? Where is the forgiveness you are withholding? That's often where the work needs to begin.

A Small Challenge for the Week

For our returned missionaries and lifelong disciples alike: I challenge you this week to dedicate five minutes of quiet time specifically to asking, "What truth am I avoiding today?" Don't ask about the world; ask about your own heart. Be ready to hear what the Spirit whispers back.

If you want to deepen this kind of wrestling with scripture, remember that HolyPlaces has excellent Bible Study Groups forming. Or, if you prefer a structured, one-on-one deep dive, check out Davee. He’s ready to walk you through the toughest questions an investigator might pose!

Keep pressing forward, disciples. The work is eternal, and the Spirit always knows the right questions to ask.