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“Questions can make hermits out of us, driving us into hiding.”

A thought by Max Lucado (2012-02-06) from his book, Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear (p. 144). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

That is what happens so many times when we are going through bad times, times that maybe cause us to doubt what we believe.  We quit going to church, we stay away from those Christian people, we go into hiding.

Now there are times that we need to get away to collect our thoughts and to calm our emotions but there is also danger in staying there, there is danger in hiding.

Max says, “Questions can make hermits out of us, driving us into hiding. Yet the cave has no answers. Christ distributes courage through community; he dissipates doubts through fellowship. He never deposits all knowledge in one person but distributes pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to many. When you interlock your understanding with mine, and we share our discoveries . . . When we mix, mingle, confess, and pray, Christ speaks.”

Over in Luke 24 you find that the disciples were going through a very difficult time.  Jesus, their leader had just been killed.  And they had so many questions.

Max says, “The adhesiveness of the disciples instructs us. They stuck together. Even with ransacked hopes, they clustered in conversant community. They kept ‘going over all these things that had happened’ (Luke 24: 14 MSG). Isn’t this a picture of the church— sharing notes, exchanging ideas, mulling over possibilities, lifting spirits? And as they did, Jesus showed up to teach them, proving ‘when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there’ (Matt. 18: 20 MSG).”

Max goes on, “And when he speaks, he shares his story. God’s go-to therapy for doubters is his own Word. ‘Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to’ (Rom. 10: 17 MSG). So, listen to it.”

Max earlier asks the question, “What would Christ have us do with our doubts? His answer? Touch my body and ponder my story. We still can, you know. We can still touch the body of Christ. We’d love to touch his physical wounds and feel the flesh of the Nazarene. Yet when we brush up against the church, we do just that. ‘The church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself’ (Eph. 1: 23 NLT).”


So, where are your questions driving you?
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