All of us have questions. We must never be ashamed of having question or honest doubts. Our questions are the
starting point of every person's search for truth, meaning, and fulfillment in life.
The two broad and general questions that every mature person asks at some point are well known:
• Who am I?
• Why am I here?
These questions are what I call identity questions. They are at the very core of our humanity. We want
to know our nature and the purpose for our creation.
Three other questions are ones that tend to relate to specific circumstances, questions, or problems. I call
them situational questions:
• What is going on?
• Why is this happening? (This question might also be stated, What is the meaning of this?)
• What should I do?
The encouraging news is that God not only has answers to each of these questions, but He delights in sharing
His answers with us.
Identity Questions
When we ask the questions “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” we are really asking two other questions, although
we may not be aware that we are asking them. Those two questions are, “Who is God?” and “What is God doing?” The
answers to our foremost two identity questions are answered to a great extent when we answer these questions about
God's identity.
The Bible tells us that God is Creator. “In the beginning, God created” (Gen. 1:1). He created the heavens and
the earth and all that is in them—including us. He is our Maker, our Source, our Author.
Who are you? You are a creation of God, uniquely gifted and designed by Him for a specific role and function
on this earth.
Consider these words: Creator, Maker, Source, Author. Creator of what? Maker of what? Source of what? Author
of what? These very words imply that God has a plan and a purpose for this world and for each person He creates.
A creator creates a place and creatures to occupy it.
A maker makes things happen; he sets in motion functions and processes.
A source provides all that is necessary for a purpose to be accomplished.
An author writes a message that conveys meaning and instructions, as well as words of inspiration or commands
to be true to that meaning and carry out the instructions.
If you truly desire to know who you are and why you are here, the Bible presents the answers to you.
You are one of God's creations, unique in all ways and fashioned very specifically for a purpose God has in
mind.
You are put into this world to make something happen—you have been created for a specific function in God's
plan. The Holy Spirit has been given to you to help you carry out your function. All around you, God is engineering
the situations and circumstances necessary for you to fulfill your function as you obey Him.
On a daily basis, God is giving to you all that you need to carry out His plan for you. Not only has God given
you your unique set of talents and traits, but He is providing for you life, energy, time, opportunity, and abundant
resources to carry out your function.
You are a “living letter” being written by God to your generation with the express intent of communicating to
the world God's love and forgiveness. You are a living testimony to the redemption work of Jesus Christ. When you
choose to obey God's call upon your life, you become a living example of God's Word at work in the world today.
• Reflect upon your life:
1. How has God gifted you as His unique creation?
2. How has God revealed to you your function or role in His greater plan for all mankind? (What is it that
you do well when you use the gifts He has given to you? What has God called you to do?)
3. How has God provided for you, so that you might carry out His plan?
4. How has God challenged you repeatedly to live in obedience to Him, and to express His love and forgiveness
to others?
• How do you feel about the identity that God has given to you?
Creator:
What the Word Says
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness: let them have dominion over the fish of
the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that
creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him: male and female He created them. Then
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion
over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen.
1:26–28)
What the Word Says to Me
Maker:
What the Word Says
It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And He sets me on my high places. (Ps. 18:32–33)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1:6)
What the Word Says to Me
Source:
What the Word Says
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights. (James 1:17)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Give us this day our daily bread. (Matt. 6:11)
What the Word Says to Me
Author:
What the Word Says
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (Heb. 12:2)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
And as we have borne the image of the man of dust [Adam], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man [Jesus
Christ]. (1 Cor. 15:49)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
[Jesus said]: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19–20)
What the Word Says to Me
The Psalmist wrote: “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). When we truly
catch a glimpse of who we are and why we are here—from God's perspective—our automatic response is praise to God.
What an awesome God He is! How wonderful we are as His creation! What a perfect plan He has in mind! What an incredible
role He has entrusted to us!
• What new insights do you have into the reason God has placed you on the earth at this time? How does this
relate to your role as an encourager?
• In what ways are you feeling challenged and encouraged today?
Situational Questions
When we ask the questions, “What is going on? Why is this happening? What should I do?” we must always ask them
in relationship to God's plan and purposes for us:
• What is God doing?
• What does God intend to happen in and through this event or situation?
• How does God want me to respond?
Again, our answers to these questions are to be found in God's Word. As we read God's Word, we can trust the
Holy Spirit to quicken God's answers to our spirit so that we know with certainty what God desires for us to know
and to respond as God wants us to respond.
Does God truly want to reveal answers to us? The Bible tells us that God desires for us to have His wisdom.
James 1:5–6 assures us:
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will
be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven
and tossed by the wind.
James tells us three important things about our search for God's answers:
1. We are to ask in faith. We must believe that when we ask for wisdom from God that He will give it
to us. We must accept the answer that we believe we have heard from God and act on it. If we second-guess what
we believe God is saying to us, James says that we are going to be “tossed” about and we will be unstable in our
actions (James 1:6–8).
As you go to God for answers, expect God to give you answers. Have an open heart ready to receive His
answers as you study the Scriptures and listen to the Holy Spirit in your heart.
2. God will give us wisdom liberally. In other words, He will give us the fullness of the answer
that we need to have. He will not keep a secret from us when we need His wisdom to live out His plan and purpose
for us to its fullest.
Now, this does not mean that God will tell us everything we want to know. It means us that God will tell
us everything we need to know from His perspective. Some things will always remain a mystery to us because
there simply is no way that we, as finite creatures, can ever comprehend the fullness of God's majesty—His omnipotence,
His omniscience, His glory. There are many things we cannot understand about God's nature. They are too awesome
for our minds and hearts to contain them.
There are other things that we may want to know in our curiosity, but that are things that we do not need to
know. The information may actually be harmful to us. In some cases, if God were to impart the information to us
we might be tempted to use the information to bring harm to other people, or we might respond to the information
in a way that would hurt another person unintentionally.
In still other cases, God does not reveal information to us because it is not yet His timing for us to have
that information.
The broader message, however, is this: God always tells us what we need to know in order to live out
His commandments, be a witness to Christ Jesus, and fulfill His specific role and function for our lives. He keeps
no secrets regarding His statutes, the nature of Christ, or the purpose He has for us to be agents of God's love
and forgiveness. He always tells us what we need to know to do the work that He has created for us to do. Trust
God to give you such information liberally.
The fact is, God reveals through His Word far more than most of us can apply! We each know more about what God
desires us to do than we either want to do or believe we can do. As God gives us His wisdom, in liberal, overflowing,
abundant doses, we must always ask Him to give us the ability, the desire, and the courage to respond with actions
to the truth of His message to us.
3. God does not criticize us for asking. God gives us His wisdom “without reproach.” He does not chide
us for doubting. He does not ridicule us for not knowing already.
Many people find it very encouraging to realize that God never considers any question too small or any problem
too insignificant for God. He is not only the God of eternal and everlasting truth, but He is the God of factual
details. You should feel free to ask God any question that you have in your heart about your life, your
current situation or circumstances, the meaning of what is happening in you, to you, or through you, and the next
steps that God desires for you to take.
• Recall an incident in your life when you believe God gave you His wisdom. How did you feel? What did you
do in response?
• How do you feel about the truth that God never criticizes those who ask Him honest questions? How do you
feel about His promise to give you His wisdom generously?
What the Word Says
“He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.” (Isa. 2:3b)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the
word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. (2 Tim. 2:15–16)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness. (2 Tim. 3:16)
What the Word Says to Me
Searching the Scriptures for Specific Answers
When you are faced with a situation that baffles you or a problem that continues to puzzle you, spend some concentrated
time in God's Word. Use a concordance and identify several key concepts that you believe are related to your problem
or question. Then read the Scriptures that are listed under that topic. Make notes to yourself about the meaning
you see in each verse or passage you read.
Before you begin reading the Scriptures, invite the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart as you read. Open yourself
to hearing His voice speak in your innermost being. He usually speaks to us through strong impressions, sudden
new ideas or insights, and through ideas and concepts that we just can't seem to shake after we have finished our
study time.
In the course of your reading and studying the Scriptures on a particular topic, other concepts may come to
mind, or you may have questions about specific words or phrases that you encounter. Spend some time searching the
Scriptures on those topics. The Holy Spirit may also remind you of a passage of Scripture that you have read or
studied at a previous time. Follow His lead in your study.
Give yourself several hours—perhaps even several days or weeks—to search the Scriptures before you come to a
conclusion about God's answer to you. Now, in some cases, you may find your answer in the first verse you study,
or the solution may be quickened to your spirit in the first passage to which you turn. More likely, the truth
of God's response to you is to be found as you read and study “precept upon precept, / Line upon line … / Here
a little, there a little” (Isa. 28:10).
Keep in mind always that God will never give you a directive that is not confirmed in His Word. He will not
tell you to do something that is contrary to His commandments, to the life of Jesus Christ, or to the teachings
of the Bible as a whole. He will not tell you to do something that will bring spiritual harm to another person
or that will function as a stumbling block to others. John wrote: “He who loves his brother abides in the light,
and there is no cause for stumbling in him” (1 John 2:10).
When God reveals His specific answer to your specific question, you then have a responsibility to act upon that
answer.
• Recall a time in your life when you turned to the Scriptures for a specific answer to a question or problem
you had and you received an answer from God's Word.
What the Word Says
[Jesus said]: “To whom much is given, from him much will be required.” (Luke 12:48)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not
a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately
forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not
a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22–25)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
[Jesus said]: “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who
built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Now everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not
do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand; and the rain descended, the floods came, and
the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matt. 7:24)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Teach me Your way, O LRD;
I will walk in Your truth. (Ps. 86:11)
What the Word Says to Me
Answers Are Encouraging!
When God answers our questions about our identity, and when He provides direction for us to take in puzzling
situations, we cannot help but feel encouraged! We have been given a purpose in life. We have a job that we are
equipped to do and can succeed at doing as we trust the Holy Spirit. Our lives can be filled with meaning, and
we can know the satisfaction that comes with serving God effectively.
One of the foremost ways you can encourage others is to tell them these two truths:
• God has a purpose for your life. He has gifted you in special ways to do a specific job.
• God has an answer to your questions. He wants you to live in His wisdom, day by day, situation by situation.
You may not have answers to the questions that people ask you, including your children, but you can always say,
“I don't know. But I know the One who does! Let's ask God.” Be quick to pray with others that they might turn to
God for the answers they need to the big questions about their lives, and to the immediate questions they have
about their circumstances. Be quick to point others toward the riches of God's Word—it is the Answer Book to life's
most puzzling test questions.
• In what ways are you being challenged today to encourage others? Is there someone specific to whom God
is calling you to share the answers that are found in having a relationship with Him? Is God calling you to point
someone toward the Word of God for answers to their questions?
From Sharing the Gift of Encouragement
by Charles Stanley. Copyright 1998 by Charles Stanley.
