5 Questions Which God Never Promised to Answer

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

There are five questions which God never promised to answer—ones which we often ask Him about and then become irritated because we don’t get an immediate response.

QUESTION #1: Why, God? Why didn’t you stop this? No, it isn’t necessarily a sin to ask this one. Good men and women have cried out, “Why, God?” Even Jesus prayed, “Why have you forsaken me?” At the threshing floor when he was confronted by an angel who told him God was with him, Gideon responded, “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13). In other words, if God is with us, why are we in this mess? Most of the time, asking the question makes us feel better, but don’t be disappointed if you don’t get an immediate response to your question of “Why?”

QUESTION #2: When, God? We are always interested in the timetable. The disciples put the question, “When?” to Jesus, saying, “So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?'” (Acts 1:6). He was about to ascend to Heaven, and they wanted to know how soon things were going to come together. The question “When?” doesn’t take into account that God’s timetable is different from ours. He’s never in a hurry; we are. He’s not restricted by the constraints of time; we are. That’s the difference.

Question #3: What, God? Our hearts cry out, “What is going to happen?” or “What did you do, Lord?” Guy Duffield writes, “Our Lord never explains the whats.” After the resurrection, Peter was concerned about John and whether or not he would face persecution. He asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me” (John 21:21-22).

Question #4: Where, Lord? When you are following someone and you know that they know where you’re going, you never ask the question, “Where?” You follow by faith. Abraham, says Hebrews 11:8, followed God, “not knowing where he was going.” When you begin to walk by faith, God doesn’t send a road map by special delivery. He just says, “Follow me. I’ve been there.”

Question #5: How, Lord? Of those five questions which God never promised to answer, this is probably the biggest one. How did you create our world, God? How will we live in heaven? How will we get there? How will I know that You are enough?

By now you have probably come to conclude that these five questions—why, when, what, where, and how—are all pushed aside by faith which looks beyond–even a weak faith in a God, whom you know is stronger than the questions that rise from your heart.

When we get to heaven, you may well indeed find a line which is the “unanswered question” line; however, I suspect that even should such a line exist, not very many people would be in that line. Why? Because I’m convinced that when you get to heaven, one of two things will be true: Either you will know the answers to those five troublesome questions, or else they just won’t matter, and I’m inclined to believe it really won’t matter.

The life of faith is a rewarding walk day by day, step by step. No, it’s not trouble free, but it is a walk you will never undertake alone. He said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). When you are tempted to ask why, when, what, where, and how, listen for His voice saying, “Trust me.”

Resource reading: Job 41.