Perhaps your faith is hanging in the balance because you think you need an answer for why God has allowed something hard in your life—and it hasn’t come.

We all want answers.

We all want to know why God allows suffering.

We all want clarity.

But I think part of the answer isn’t found in what we don’t know about God but in what we do know about Him. What we know for certain about God tells us a lot about the mystery of what we don’t know.

Sometimes the answer truly is that there is no answer. God may not answer the questions that are plaguing you.

I find it fascinating that, in the oldest book in the Bible—Job—God sets a precedent even before the rest of Scripture is written. The first precedent? That the righteous do suffer. The second? That sometimes God doesn’t give a reason.

God told us, centuries before Jesus arrived, that the righteous are allowed to suffer—as if to pave the way for His Son. He let us know up front that He allows suffering, and He will allow it again through Jesus’ sacrifice.

Because of the Book of Job, we know this truth about God: He allows suffering. Jesus and Job are powerful examples of this.

Regarding the second precedent God sets in Job: He doesn’t always reveal why He allows certain things. Remember, God was silent for the first thirty-seven chapters of Job. When He finally speaks in Job 38, He still doesn’t answer Job’s questions.

In Judges 6 God visits Gideon. The people of Israel were getting ransacked by their enemies—the Midianites—to the point of terror. They were hiding in mountain clefts, caves, and strongholds, scattered in every direction, and in many ways humiliated and afraid. When they cried out to the Lord for help, He chose Gideon as their leader.

When God appears to Gideon while he was threshing wheat in the winepress, He says, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior” (Judg. 6:12).

When Gideon he heard this, he began to question the Lord. In verse 13 (NKJV), he says,

Oh my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, “Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?” But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of Midianites.

We all can relate to Gideon’s questions: “Why is this happening?” and “Where are those miracles that we’ve heard so much about?” But God doesn’t answer him. Scripture says that the Lord looked at him, heard every one of his questions, and rather than responding with answers, He responded with encouragement: “The Lord looked at him and said, ‘Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?’” (Judg. 6:14). It seems as if God completely ignored his questions and gave no answer.

Like Job, God didn’t answer any of Gideon’s questions. In His wisdom He left them unanswered. This isn’t unusual in Scripture; God often looks past the questions people ask.

For example, Moses had many questions about his call to lead Israel out of bondage, but God didn’t directly address most of them. Jesus, in the New Testament, did the same in His interactions with the crowds, Pharisees, and Sadducees, seemingly ignoring many questions. But did God truly ignore them?

While it is true that specific questions were left unanswered, God never ignores them. God may not answer in the way we expect, but He always responds. His responses to our questions are often more beneficial than direct answers. Let me explain.

To Gideon, God responded with a charge of encouragement. To Moses, He responded with displays of power and reaffirmed that Moses was chosen. In the New Testament, Jesus often responded with parables or stories to illustrate His point. While God may not always answer the question, He has a long history of responding.

Why Does God Leave Questions Unanswered?

This may not be something you want to hear, but let’s dive in—you may feel differently. Why doesn’t God answer all our questions directly? Why would He respond without giving us the answer we’re asking for? Because He knows that’s not actually what you need from Him. God often refrains from answering because He’s not focused on the audible question; He’s listening to the deeper longing beneath it. He looks past our words and sees our soul. His eyes see what we need to know. He isn’t limited by what we want to hear.

Most of the time, our questions are just symptoms of deeper spiritual needs. We think we need an explanation, but what our hearts truly need is comfort. Let me ask: If God handed you a full report, bullet pointed to perfection, explaining exactly why He allowed this particular situation in your life, would it change anything in you? Would it bring you peace?

Would it heal your pain? The thing still happened. The loss still came. Is that truly what you’re looking for?

If God hasn’t answered your question, perhaps that’s because an answer isn’t what you truly need. Perhaps the question is just a signal pointing to something deeper. We ask questions when what we’re really craving is unconditional love. We ask questions when what we need is peace. We ask questions when what we really long for is assurance—that God sees us and that He’s still with us.

God knows an answer may not be what your soul is actually longing for. That’s why He responds to the deeper spiritual need, not just the surface-level inquiry. He knows what you truly need, even if you don’t. God always responds—but He doesn’t always answer. More often than not, what you’re seeking isn’t truly an answer at all—it’s the comfort, peace, love, and reassurance that He’s still with you.

Why Does God Respond but Not Answer?

While I’m sure there are many reasons God responds to our spiritual needs rather than answering our specific questions, I want to focus on just one: To be plain and simple, it’s because some of His reasons wouldn’t make sense to us.

If you’re a parent, you’ve experienced this. Your young child asks you a question that they want answered, but they’re too young to process it. For example, as a mom of four, each of my kids is different, yet every single one of them asked me around five years old, “Mom, where do babies come from?”

They were curious, wanted answers, and fully expected me to deliver. But at that age, they simply weren’t ready for a full, detailed answer. They wouldn’t have understood it. It would’ve been too much for them to process.

So instead of going into the biological details of how babies are made and where they come from, I said something like, “I’ll tell you when you’re a little older and ready to understand.” You’ve most likely done the same. Why do we do this? Because the truth would’ve been more than they could handle at that age. They wouldn’t have understood it.

In the Book of Job, God never tells Job why he suffers. He never answers the questions Job asks—but rest assured, there was a reason (or reasons) God allowed it. Just as my kids wouldn’t understand the answer to where babies come from at the age of four or five, Job wouldn’t have understood God’s reasoning for the harsh trials he endured either.

There was a good reason. We aren’t allowed to suffer for sport. God is good. He would never allow relentless suffering without purpose. But if He gave us His reasoning, it’s almost certain we wouldn’t understand. Why? Because God doesn’t make decisions based on human logic. He makes his decisions based on supernatural wisdom that far exceeds anything we could comprehend.

Human questions want human answers. God allows suffering in situations where no reason is given—even though one exists—because we wouldn’t be able to process His divine reasoning. Scripture puts it this way: “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him?” (1 Cor. 2:16). We don’t know the mind of God. We aren’t His equal, and we don’t instruct Him—because we wouldn’t even understand how. He operates on a divine level; we operate on a human one.

Isaiah says something similar: “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa. 55:8–9). We often quote this verse, but really grasping its meaning gives us perspective on why He leaves questions unanswered. His ways and thoughts are higher—far beyond what we can process or comprehend.

Romans chimes in too: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!” (Rom. 11:33, ESV).

In 1 Corinthians 2:9, Scripture says that what God has planned for us has never even entered the human heart—no eye has seen it, nor has an ear heard it. Friend, His reasons are real, but they are far beyond our understanding.

Ways That God Responds

We’ve established that God may not answer your questions—because His mind isn’t like ours. His supernatural logic is often beyond what we can understand. However, what He always does is respond.

He responded to Job. He responded to Gideon. He responded to Moses. He responds to you—with what He sees you truly need.

God responds in many ways. His response may come as comfort. It may come as clarity of purpose. It may be a new perspective you hadn’t thought of. He might respond with an open door or a new opportunity. Sometimes He responds with a period of waiting. Sometimes He may also respond with a process.

There are countless ways our souls cry out and just as many ways God chooses to respond. One way He often responds is with a promise.

After God responded to Gideon with comfort, He followed with a promise: “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man” (Judg. 6:16). Gideon needed reassurance. He was scared and overwhelmed. He needed to know he wouldn’t face the impossible alone. That promise was exactly what his heart needed.

We ask God questions for all kinds of reasons. Just as He knows why He allows hardship, He also knows why we ask what we ask. He sees through the questioning, meets the root of the cry with His wisdom, and responds with exactly what our souls need.

Don’t Let the Lack of an Answer Keep You from God

Years ago my husband and I met a wealthy businessman. He was married to his second or third wife and had many children, resulting in a blended family. He spoke to us at length about their family activities on Sundays. Sunday was a huge family day for them, and he seemed to genuinely cherish the time they spent together.

I remembered this particular man for one reason: He used to be a pastor but eventually left the church and even left his relationship with God. The complex trials he faced in life became too much to reconcile. The bottom line was that he couldn’t make sense of them. He asked God many questions, but he never felt like he received any answers. His need for understanding overtook him; as a result, he gave up on both the church at large and his relationship with God.

Stories like this grieve me because I know there are thousands—possibly millions—more just like it. When tragedy strikes a family or an individual, there often seems to be a profound silence from God. Questions go unanswered, and in that silence, bitterness and anger take root. I get it. I’ve been tempted to leave the faith too. I’ve wanted to throw in the towel on God.

To order Autumn Miles’ new book, Holy Ghosted, visit Amazon.com.

But if I were to simply walk away because I didn’t receive an answer from God about a particular situation in my life, I’d be giving up the most incredible gift I’ve ever received: His grace in salvation. I’d be forfeiting the future I know He’s planned for me and surrender the single most incredible relationship of hope I’ve ever known. The miracles would cease. The joy would cease. Shall I go on?

Open His Word and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to the very thing your soul is longing for. Scripture says, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all of your heart” (Jer. 29:13). The next verse declares, “‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord” (Jer. 29:14). You will find Him. You will find His response.

He will respond because His Word assures us that He is with us and He sees us. So call out to Him. Cry out to Him. God doesn’t promise an answer, but He will respond with His presence.

Autumn Miles is a teacher, preacher, author, podcaster, speaker, and the founder and CEO of
Autumn Miles Ministries. She is a woman who is desperate for Jesus and dedicated to teaching the Word of God. Autumn hosts a weekly podcast and has authored three books: Appointed (2014), I Am Rahab (2018), and Gangster Prayer (2019). The mission behind all that Autumn does has always been to spiritually challenge the way people think. Autumn sponsored a study with Lifeway on domestic violence and the church in 2017. Her writing has appeared in Fox News, The Washington Post, and Dallas Morning News. She was also selected for a profile feature in the New Yorker. Autumn is earning her Master of
Divinity and serves as the Women’s Pastor to Prisons at Gateway Church. Her combined media and social media reach minister to millions every year. Autumn resides in Dallas with her husband, Eddie, and their four children. Her new book, Holy Ghosted, is available on Amazon.com.