What is the best question you’ve ever been asked?
How did it make you want to respond? Did it stir up something inside you?
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sin. They disobey God, turning their backs on him, they run head-long into rebellion. As they hide from God, He calls out to them “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)
Did God really not know where Adam was? Of course He knew.
So then, why did he ask the question? “Where are you?”
We often want to ask “WHY?”
Why, God, did this happen?
Why were they so stupid?
Why is all mankind cursed as a result?
Why God – WHY?
Maybe the more important questions we can ask are “WHAT” and “HOW”, instead of “WHY”. These are questions that unlock the story for us – They help us to study God’s Word for ourselves.
What was God trying to get Adam to see?
He is trying to get Adam to see he is alone and lost without God.
How was God using this question to provoke communication?
God was getting Adam to take his eyes off his ‘surroundings’ (Eve, the Serpent), and getting him to take responsibility for his own actions.
What was God communicating in this question?
I still want a relationship with you Adam. I know what you did, and I am here to talk.
As the story goes on, we see God using questions to help Adam unlock the reality of the situation. “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” Genesis 3:11
God is using questions. What is God trying to get at? Genesis 3:13 – What is this that you have done? This is a fantastic question – “What is this that you have done?” This question is full of implicational thinking. It is full of possibilities. It is full of consequences.
This is a question that communicates in a way that CONTINUES to communicate long after the question has been asked.
Adam will spend his life considering this question. It has unlocked something in him. In one question, God has disciplined, and God has discipled. Questions are part of God’s communication. They are part of his discipline and discipleship.
Ten years ago, God asked me a question – “How are you living, and How are you dying? Is the way you’re living worth dying for?” In that moment, God disciplined me (Son, your life right now is not a worthy life), and God disciple me (Son, let me give you a picture of what true life really is in Christ).
For us, How is our discipleship? How do we discipline? What can we learn from God’s own communication?
How can we incorporate God’s style of question asking into our own communication?
