How did we get so arrogant?

I watch the news and wonder, sometimes, “How did we get so arrogant?” There is no end to familiar faces from pop culture, TV personalities, actors, musicians who never miss a chance to speak their opinion in front of a camera.

But they’re not the only ones. For the most part, the world has gotten to be a know-it-all culture because there are really no unanswered questions.

Today, I got online and asked the question “When is a good time to trim a palm tree?” And I got pages and pages of answers.

“Whatever happened to Ralph Malph?”

“How do you make good fried chicken?”

Don’t judge me.

Most times, when we’re sitting around with family or other friends, the conversations bounce around and, usually, someone asks a question that we all ponder. Then, in a matter of seconds like contestants on a game show, somebody pulls out their phone and gets the answer. We usually assume the answer online is true. Hmm.

So, over the course of my life, I’ve asked questions of God. I’ve been through seasons where I didn’t dare ask out loud but knowing my heart as He does, it doesn’t really matter, does it? And I don’t think our questions are an affront to the One that made us. Now, in the course of conversational prayer that can run through the course of any given day, I’m not afraid to ask questions.

Unlike the www., God isn’t always inclined to cough up the answer right away.

My little boy is sick right now with awful congestion and ear infections. Of course we pray for him but realize, in light of some of the other health issues others in our family are facing, it doesn’t seem so bad.

Still, I wish he didn’t have to go through this.

Ellie, my 8-month-old granddaughter, is, at the very moment I write this, at the hospital with my son Adam and wife, Laura. An MRI was done late yesterday and they’re waiting on results and to discuss a plan of action. A mass was found in her abdomen last week during an ultrasound.

I’m waiting to hear.

And praying.

If, as a dad, my children were suffering and I could do something about it, would I? You know the answer to that because you’d do the same thing and wouldn’t think twice.

So even though I’ve been a Christian since I was 9 years old, there are still times I’m confused about the whole prayer thing.

God is able to do something for my son and for Ellie and for your child. He can.

Why doesn’t He?

The comfort I find in this is that He is God and I am not.

I can’t see the picture He sees and I don’t know what He’s up to. It’s not on the internet and I can’t google it. I can find a good French toast recipe but I can’t get an answer to the question I want answered most.

When Adam called to tell me about Ellie, our conversation ended and I heard myself say, “It’s out of our hands, son.”

It is.

I can’t see. I can’t hear. I don’t know.

And it’s ok.

Wayne