Where Are You?

 August 22, 2022

We often question God’s plans when things aren’t going as we had hoped. We question his wisdom, and often are quick to offer our suggestions as to how he might better run our portion of the universe. “I have a lot of questions to ask God when I get to heaven,” is a refrain I’ve heard dozens of times from people going through deep waters. It’s understandable, but we rarely consider that God has a few questions of his own.

Two Sundays ago, pastor Joe highlighted one of those questions as presented in the book of Isaiah, where God compares Israel to a vineyard he has planted. “He dug it up and cleared out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; so he expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes.” (Isaiah 5:2) He continues, “What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?” (5:4). 

God’s question deserves an answer. What more could he have done than he has already done for us? And, why after all he has done for us, do we continue to disappoint him? I don’t know the answer to that question, but someday we will stand before him, and when we do, it would behoove us to have an answer beforehand.

I’ve occasionally pondered this topic of “Questions God asks,” and decided to do something about it, so tonight, we begin a new series in our Monday Men’s Bible Study group. The core Scripture for this series is Job 38:3—“Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” It’s time that we “man up” and face head-on God’s tribunal. We men have for too long danced around the difficult questions of life, preferring to settle into a dismal, safe routine of watered-down Christianity that offers buckets of comfort, but droplets of challenge.

The very first question God ever asked, he asked of Adam. “Where are you?” he demanded in Genesis 3:9. Perhaps one of the hardest questions he could posit, God isn’t asking because he has lost track of us. Rather, we have lost our way. We don’t know where we are. Where am I in my walk with God? Am I where I should be? How do I measure spiritual progress? Have I drifted from his pathway, and if so, how do I get back?

What about my relationships? Where am I with my wife, my children, my friends, my acquaintances? Where am I when it comes to handling my time or my money? If I don’t know where I am, it will be impossible for me to find my destination. My present location is key to my destination. God is questioning me, not because he doesn’t know, but because too often, I don’t know. Our capacity for self-deception is astounding, which is why we need Gospel truth as a North Star for our lives. Jesus is that star who enlightens my path, showing me both where I am, and where I need to go.