Somehow, my roommate and I found ourselves in a wrestling match. He was large, kind and horsed around too much. I was high-strung and weighed in at a whopping 110 pounds, a little more than half of what he weighed. I figured my scrappy attitude would somehow aid me in my battle. The other roommates and some friends watched our contest, which really amounted to me squirming and yelling a ton while Jon laughed at me.
“Do ya think you’re gonna win?”
He asked this question as he rolled over on top of both of my legs. I tried to pull them out from under him but without success. I flailed, pushed and made threats to the point of losing my breath, then I laid back. “Get off of me. You knew how this would turn out.”
He did what I asked and still joyful, picked me up and hugged me. I didn’t return the gesture, because I wanted to stab him. Jon knew the answer to the question before he asked it. We all knew how this sport would turn out prior to its start.
There’s nothing more annoying than someone asking a question
to which they already know the answer.
They aren’t inquiring, but drawing attention to something.
God does this all the time.
★ ★ ★
When Adam and Eve were playing hide and go seek with The Almighty in the garden of Eden, his inquiry as to their whereabouts wasn’t because He didn’t know that they were hiding, it was to draw attention to the fact that they believed they could hide from the One who’d created them and everything else. And they were busted.
Generations later, in the midst of a grappling match with the patriarch, the Angel of the Lord asked him, “What is your name?” This request for information didn’t come about as a matter of ignorance, but was an attempt to get Jacob to admit that he was a deceiver, supplanter and heel grabber. I have yet to make that confession to the Lord, but He hasn’t twisted my arm in a wrestling match, either. (Genesis 32)
Jesus asked Peter and the other disciples, “Children, do you have any fish?” (John 21:5) Any American fisherman would to experience immediate annoyance at this question, especially if the one who’d asked the question knew they hadn’t. Maybe Jesus should have asked, “Guys, why are you fishing when I gave you other stuff to do?”
The Almighty has been asking me some questions lately. Knowing His methods, my knee-jerk reaction has been to yell, “Stop judging me!” A demand like that merits a laugh from the One who has every right to judge. Once I calm down, I give attention to what I already knew but likely tried to ignore and see what the Lord would have me do.
He’s been asking me some pointed questions as well. Like you said, the frustrating thing is that He knows the answers, and is just trying to get me to see what’s really going on.
“QUIT JUDGING ME!” 😉 It’s always the answer I have…
My answer is usually: NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOO!!! 🙂
I remember early in my life of a believer when God asked me a question He knew the answer to. I was angry because I had caught someone manipulating me and there is nothing that makes me more angry than being manipulated. I was fuming, kicking things, muttering angrily to myself when I heard that still small voice say “let it go.” I yelled back “NO! I will not let it go! I deserve to be angry! I’m right to be angry!” And i heard that same still small voice reply “You can be right or you can be happy, which would you prefer?”
Never argue with God…He’s frickin’ always right dangit!
“You can be right or you can be happy.”
That’s a statement. I don’t like it, because I prefer both. I tend to panic because I’m too slow to know what He’s getting at, then it’s shocking slap in the face. Boooo. 😉