No matter the stage of life, each of us always has more questions than answers. I think this is especially true as the calendar turns and we stare into another year, wondering if it is going to be better or worse than last year.
As we age, our experiences add up and our curiosities broaden; as we start to think about the questions we are asking, we realize the asking of questions often leads to more asking of questions. But what value does the asking of questions contribute to the pursuit of success? I shared a few thoughts in my book What’s Next? Talking with God About the Rest of Your Life:
Questions, like life, are a vapor. Not meaningless in and of themselves, but a mist, a cloud, a wind, difficult to grasp and even more challenging to hold onto. I have great pity for those who, while they are walking around, are still asleep. Their lives are marked by the self-satisfaction of asking questions. They go on and on, asking whether humanity can affect the globe with our industrious nature. They debate politics with their own opinion as their moral compass. They cry out to be heard while mandating safe spaces on college campuses. They also ponder how to make more money, whether slavery is the worst of all sins, and which of all the religions is the greatest threat to world peace.
Lives marked by questions are also marked by the risk of being absorbed into the meaninglessness of life. I grieve for those who are satisfied only in the eloquence and intellect of their own asking of questions, for their pinnacle in life is to be considered wise in the eyes of their peers. They are like the Pharisees that John mentions in his gospel, saying, “they loved human praise more than praise from God” (John 12:43). Don’t be like them. These fools often strive to live and work in self-aggrandizing white houses or the echo chambers of newsrooms, classrooms, and boardrooms. They strive to be seen on the cover of magazines, walking red carpets, and on the stages of Hollywood and Broadway. Their lives are marked by a celebratory ignorance of anything other than the here-and-now.
And don’t settle for answers, as they are but a pale version of what we wake up for, of what we pursue in the dawn and the dusk. Every day, we offer and receive answers. But what if those answers are wrong, conflicting with the truth itself? What if the answers you have been given are not true? What if the answers I give are not true?
As you begin your year, are you asking the right questions with the right motives to accomplish the meaningful goals and purposes that God has created you for? “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
If you are not yet in the habit of asking the right questions, would you allow me to show you how?
- Are you wondering how this year is going to be different than last year, or are you asking a trusted mentor to guide you in making this year the best year of your life?
- Are you asking which of two discretionary purchases you should make this year or how you could maximize your charitable giving?
- Are you wondering what the least amount of effort is that you could contribute to an advisory board and still receive recognition, or are you trying to decide what you must stop doing so you can start doing the things that matter most?
- Are you feverishly trying to figure out what you are going to do next without asking God why he created you in the first place?
- Are you asking God to guide you in your decision-making?
In my pursuit of understanding the meaning of life and what it looks like to succeed, I’m working hard at beginning with God’s will before I embrace my own—this is why I structured my book What’s Next? around four questions: Why did God create the world? Why did God create humanity? Why did God create you? And what are you going to do about it?
If you want to succeed this year, you have to start by asking the right questions, and you need to have the courage to ask the big questions first. And then, keep adding questions to your questions, directing them to God and inviting the wise counsel of brothers and sisters in Christ. But please, never settle for answers and always seek the truth.
