God’s Questions

#HeartForTheWord

The first question in the Bible is asked by the serpent. “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1, NKJ) Through this reptilian creature, Satan introduces himself and his character. He’s crafty, and the cunningly devised query was formulated to twist and cast doubt upon God’s clearly revealed word. God had said “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat” Genesis 2:16-17 (NKJ). Satan’s question moved Eve to focus on the one thing she could not do; God’s command had focused on all that she could do. Satan’s question and subsequent conversation took Eve’s eyes off of God’s abundant provision and placed them only on His one restriction. That restriction was meant for her protection, but Satan simply failed to point that part out to her. The rest of Genesis chapter three reveals the sad outcome of Eve’s attention to Satan’s question.

Just as we can learn from that Garden incident that Satan’s questions are designed to defeat us, we can learn from what follows that God’s questions are designed to direct us. Just a few verses after Satan’s first question, God asks His first questions. “Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?… Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?’… And the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’” (Genesis 3:9, 11, and 13)

God’s questions directed Adam and Eve in four ways:

Question #1, “Where are You?” directed their attention to His attention. They realized that God was paying attention to them and He cared about their activities.
Question #2, “Who told you that you were naked?” directed their attention to the fact that God was aware that there were other voices besides His to which they could possibly listen.
Question #3: “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” directed their attention to the fact that He already knew what they had done.
Question #4: “What is this you have done?” directed their attention to the seriousness of their mistake.

God’s questions to Adam and Eve serve as directive guidance for us as well. First, realize that God cares. Our whereabouts matter to Him and we need to be mindful of where we are as His children. Second, be careful about the voices we allow to penetrate our minds and hearts. Not every voice is echoing God’s. Third, know that there is no use hiding from God. We may as well be straight up with Him about our failures. The sooner we acknowledge our faults, the sooner He can start fixing us and our situation. And fourth, understand the seriousness of sin. We must get out of the habit of taking sin so lightly and realize that sin hurts the heart of God, separates us from Him, and “sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” James 1:15b (NKJ).

Worship God today for being the Question-asker. Let’s allow His questions to permeate our hearts so we can stand right before Him.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

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