Have you ever struggled with determining why you do something?  Here are some lessons I learned when I went through such a time.

My dilemma involved a hobby.  This particular hobby required great periods of time and if I wasn’t careful, it would consume large chunks of time.  Mind you, it was a healthy hobby. However, sometimes it just seemed like a complete waste of time.

Asking yourself why you do something isn’t a bad idea.  However, it’s not the best question. Here are some better ones…Who? What? When? Where?

These questions go back to ancient times.  Modern journalism also relies heavily on them.

The reason these questions have stood the test of time is because they are powerful.  They are powerful because they have the ability to help us determine our why.

Author Abraham Joshua Heschel once said something along these lines.  What we need in life is not four or five truths but four or five good questions.

Rather than asking yourself why, you might ask yourself some of these questions.

For example, you might ask.  Who have I become as I pursued this path? Or, who has been impacted by the course I’ve chosen.

Another question is what? What benefits have I received?  What would I be doing if I hadn’t taken this path?

The next one is when?  When was my level of happiness increased significantly as a result of this path?  What do I think of when I think of this (for example, what images come to mind?  What memories? Scents? Feelings?).

Finally, where?  Where is this pursuit taking me?  Where would I go?  Where are some of the significant places this pursuit has taken me?

Asking questions about your situation will help you clarify your position.  For example, these are the types of questions a 911 operator might ask you.

Rather than operators, sometimes the questions we ask ourselves come from God.

For example, Jesus knew the power of questions.  Throughout his life he asked many questions. Some of them have been recorded for our prosperity.

For instance, Jesus asked:

Do you believe I can do this? (Matthew 9:28).  Take a few minutes and imagine he’s asking you that question.  Do that with the questions that follow as well.  Perhaps one of them will really get you thinking!

Why are you terrified? (Matthew 8:26)

Why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:31)

Do you not yet understand? (Matthew 16:8)

But who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15)

Where is your faith? (Luke 8:25)

What are you looking for? (John 1:38)

Take some time asking yourself one or all of these questions and see what comes of it.  This can be a very powerful exercise.

Why?  Is just too difficult a question to begin with.  The other questions help you boil down your why.

Here are some examples of questions that are difficult to answer.

Why did my spouse leave me?

Why do I have cancer?

Rather than starting with the question why, why not start with some of the other questions? ☺

That’s what they told you to do when taking a test, right?  If you don’t know the answer, answer the questions you do know the answer to.  You can wrestle with the question why all of your life and still not come up with an answer.  The other questions, on the surface, are easier to answer.

While you’re at it, take time to reflect on some of these questions.  Go someplace quiet. Listen to music. Walk the dog or walk alone.

The quiet places on earth, the fields and the streams, were designed so that we would have a quiet place to be restored.

Think about the people God spoke to who spent a great deal of time outside…Moses, David, Paul, Jesus, the Disciples.  All of these were men who asked questions and pondered the answers.

See if you can find a psalm where David does not ask a question.  I just tried it. In Psalm 13, the first five sentences are questions!!!  

Have you ever noticed how many questions people ask you on a daily basis?

Rather than appearing to be a leader who knows it all, what if you became curious?  What if you became known as someone who asks great questions?

Jesus asked such great questions at the age of twelve, that the experts were amazed.  “After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Luke 2:46-47).

If Jesus asked great questions, we should ask great questions too.

Another powerful tool to get to the heart of the matter is writing.  Write down your questions as well as your answers. Then you’ll have something you can return to later and continue.  What do you think might happen if you did that exercise for a week? A month? A year? Chances are that you will grow a great deal.

Why is not a bad question.  The problem is that sometimes it’s very difficult to answer.  Rather than starting with why, what if you pondered some of these other questions?

These days before I ask myself why, I ask the other four questions first.  The questions I ask are who? What? When? And Where? Remember, Jesus asked lots of questions throughout the scriptures.  When life has you second guessing, ask yourself questions and/or ponder some of the questions Jesus asked.

While you’re at it, go someplace quiet and reflect upon and ponder the questions.  

As you develop this habit of asking questions, your why will become more apparent.  However, determining the why isn’t what life is all about.

If you’re going to go the distance, you’ll have to take time to reflect from time to time.  Someone once said, “experience is the best teacher”. That’s not true. Evaluated experience is the best teacher.  What do you think about that?