Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you (Matthew 7:7).
The story is told of a man who falls over a huge cliff yet manages to grab hold of a
branch sticking out from the side. Looking down he realizes that it must be two to three
hundred feet down. Looking up he notices that it must be at least a hundred feet straight
up. As he examines his situation, he realizes that the only way he is going to be able to
get out of his tight spot is to call for help. And so he loudly and frequently begins to
shout for help. After a little while, he hears someone reply, and once more he cries out,
"Hey up there, please help me! I'm down here!" The voice then replies, "I
will save you. Let go of the branch." Puzzled by what he heard, he asks, "Who's
there?" The voice replies, "It is the Lord. I have heard your cries and have
come to save you. Let go of the branch." The man thought for a moment then responded,
"Is anyone else up there?"
Of all our asking, seeking and knocking that we do, it would be interesting to know how
much we do needlessly. For though our intentions may be well-founded, perhaps there are
times that we ask when we already have the answer. Perhaps we seek when what we seek has
already been found, or maybe we knock when the door is wide open and we have already been
told to go on in. But why should we do such a thing? If our intent is to find God's answer
for us, why would we even consider looking any further?
The answer to that question may be very hard to find. For why would we continue to seek
that which is already found? Perhaps we have overlooked the answer. That would certainly
keep us searching. Or maybe we have just been asking but haven't begun to listen for the
answer, or seeking to know God's will. For there are many times that we put questions to
God that we really don't want to know the truth about.
To continue to seek when we have already been given the answer is really no better than
never seeking at all. It may be that, just like the man hanging from the branch, what we
are doing is demonstrating a lack of faith. Perhaps we don't even like our current
situation at all, yet we find it more comfortable to keep a tight grip on what we already
are familiar with rather than letting go and trusting God--even if our current status is
life threatening.
But faithlessness is not the only reason we may continue to seek when God has already
answered, for stubborn pride and selfish desire are also a threat to our discovering God's
direction. Pride and desire may be the motivators that lead us to ask questions of God
that we should not be asking in the first place. Would we go to God and ask Him if it is
OK to lie? Probably not. Most of us can agree that lying is wrong and clearly spelled out
as such within the Bible. Yet, because of our pride and desire, we might find ourselves
seeking answers from God that are not found within His truth. We instead may want to find
the answers that line up best with what we want and we are not going to quit asking until
we get the answer we desire.
There are many questions we have to ask of God. We might say that the only dumb question
is the one that remains unasked. But with that we might want to add the questions that are
asked for which we do not want an honest answer--those are stupid questions too. But in
asking in sincerity, let us seek the answers that we need. And let us consider through the
wisdom of our Lord what we have already been shown. Then without hesitation let us follow
the answer He has given us in the proper application to our current situation. "And
we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose" (Rom.8:28). So as we follow God in His purpose, let
us ask that He give us wisdom to know when we should ask--and when we should look no
further.
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