"Stupid" Questions

I teach two public speaking classes at a college in Fort Wayne. My students, like most others, usually try to bend the rules or find a loophole to any assignment I give them.

Earlier this semester, I had a student ask me if he could show a 10-minute video clip for his speech. I looked at him - slightly laughing - and said, "The speech is only 6-8 minutes. You can show one minute of it, tops." (It is a speech, after all.) He walked away, and even though he knew what my answer would be, I think he was still upset with me because I told him that he couldn't show the entire thing.

Do you think we ever ask God these kinds of questions?
God, can I just slap her in the face? Just once?... No.
God, I don't really have to treat my teacher with respect, do I?... Yep.
God, the Sabbath? Isn't that just some Old Testament thing?... Nope, it's for you, too.

We wrestle with His Word, and sometimes we get upset because we can't do what we want to do. So we ask Him to change the rules. Or we try to get out of it, to find an exception.

I like how Scott put it on Sunday night... that we should obey first, and then we can ask why. For it is in our obedience that we show we trust Him, that we love Him.
Obey your parents. Okay, God. Why do I have to obey them?
Get rid of anger and bitterness. Yes, God. Why is this so important?

I can just imagine God looking at us - slightly laughing - as He listens to our inquiries. Our Father understands our difficulty in obeying Him. And I have to think that there's a part of Him that simply enjoys the fact that we are trying to follow in Christ's footsteps... "stupid" questions and all.

"But those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in Him" (1 John 2:5).