Q & A

“Kids say the darndest things”
Isn’t that the old saying? Well, maybe it should be “Kids ask the best questions.”
 
Andrea and I teach an English class together every evening here in Cambodia. Last Saturday was a Q & A session where we were to tell the students they could ask any question about God that they had. Andrea and I were not sure how this was going to go. Some of the teachers who tried this with an earlier class let their students leave early, since no one was asking any questions. Well, Andrea and I were pleasantly surprised by our students.

We opened the floor to any questions they might have. The room was silent, and then a hand shot up. The first question was posed…..

Why did God create us?

Then another question…..

If God loves us, then why do we die?

And another…..and another……

Why are there a Heaven, a hell, and an earth?

What do Heaven and hell look like?

Why did God make different languages and races?

And then came some deeper questions…

If someone is Buddhist, will they go to hell? —(remember, these students are 12-15 years old, and most of them come from a Buddhist background)

Why did Jesus have to come to earth to die?

Why does satan try and deceive us?
 
Yeah, I know. These are some pretty hefty questions. I won’t go into detail about how we answered each question. Andrea and I took turns answering the students, while the other prayed on their behalf that God would speak through them. We could not contain ourselves, we were eager to answer them and to hear what other questions the children had. We were AMAZED at how the class was going!  

I remember being a child and wondering some of the same things myself. I’ve been blessed in always knowing who Jesus was and that God created our existence, even as a small child. But that got me wondering,

what was it like to hear our responses from their point of view?

For some of them, this was the first time that someone had explained these things to them.  This could have very well been the first time that someone explained why Jesus came to earth and died. This could have been the first time that someone repeatedly told them that God loves them. I cannot comprehend what that must be like, but that is the reality of millions of people. There are countless children in this world who don’t know the love of their Father, who don’t know who Jesus is, let alone what He did for them, or that there is a true purpose behind their life.

That is why I love the innocence and curiosity of a child. What scares me is that there is no one to come and answer their questions. God created us all to know Him, and these children are waiting for answers.

So, I pose a challenge to you. Find a child or a teenager, and tell them they can ask you any question they have about God. Don’t be afraid of what they might ask; instead, lean on God to provide the answer. Get into Scripture together, pray together, and learn something new about our awesome Father!