I am sure that as a child you were told: “Ask questions that is how you learn!” Well, here are a few questions that I have been mulling over: If Shakespeare is correct in saying: “All the world is a stage” then where is the audience sitting? Or, if the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?

Not every question is made to be answered. In Luke 13:1ff. Jesus is told about some Galileans who had just presented their sacrifices to God when some of Pilate’s soldiers grabbed them, slit their throats and poured their blood on the altar. Then Jesus is asked: “Were these Galileans being punished for past, horrible sins?” We might pose the question in this manner: “Why is there suffering in the world?” “Why do good people die?” “Why do the innocent suffer as much if not more than the guilty?”

In the movie Oh, God, Book II a tiny girl asks George Burns, playing the part of God why bad things happen. Burns replies: “That’s the way the system works. Have you ever seen an up, without a down? A front without a back? A top without a bottom? You can’t have one without the other. If I take away sad, then I take away happy too. They go together.” Then with a wry smile, Burns adds: “If somebody has a better idea, I hope they put it in the suggestion box.” There is no definitive answer to the little girl’s question: “Why do bad things happen?”

The implication of the question: “Were these Galilean’s being punished for past, horrible sins?” is that they deserved to die because they were terrible sinners. It is tempting for us to say: “they are only getting what they deserve” but Jesus won’t even go there. Jesus refused to put God on trial by blaming Him for the woes of life. Instead Jesus told the crowds to “start bearing fruit even in the face of evil”

God has designed the human machine to run on Himself. He, Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn. Where do you find the power to keep going when the going really gets tough? Where do you find the power to continue to believe in love in a world that is filled with hate? Where do you find the power to believe in good in a world filled with so much suffering? Where do you find power to be a disciple of Jesus by bearing fruit in the face of evil? The power comes only from God and His Spirit. Each day we must intentionally let our roots take in God. The more we seek to encounter God in our daily lives, the more Spirit power will be available to us.

If a stealth bomber crashes in a forest, will it make a sound? Do all cemetery workers prefer the graveyard shift? Why is there evil in this world? Those are unanswerable questions. Therefore do not pray for the ability to understand, you never will. Pray instead for the ability to trust. Do not let anyone tell you that God is punishing you when life gets hard, but heart the good news: Jesus your gardener comes into your barren and broken life, stops the ax flying toward your roots and says: “Let me nurture it, and care for it. Let’s give it another year. If it bears fruit well and good; but if not, you can cut it down” (Lk. 13:9). Therefore remember that while man had his evil day, God had His third day, and you have the fourth day. Therefore choose to live by bearing fruit for the glory of God.