In the Bible Jesus asks 307 questions. He is asked 183 of which he only answers 3. Asking questions was central to Jesus' life and teachings. In fact, for every question he answers directly he asks—literally—a hundred.
During the time that the guys worked on a farm in Turkey, we were forced to learn a lot about endurance. The farm owner didn't have a lot of grace with us and expected a lot from us, because we follow Jesus. He believes that to be an example, we need to work harder and achieve more than the rest of the world, so he wasn't easily satisfied( I'm not complaining, because we learnt so much during that time).
One day Martin, Reinhardt and me were making mud bricks with the owner. We were working in silence for a while, when te Holy Spirit prompted me to ask him a question.
I asked him what he thought about our "story time"* that takes place every night.
That question led to had a very good discussion about many things and just strengthened our relationship through talking about things that really matter.
This year there are so many times that we talk to strangers and that we have the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with broken people. What I have realised is that it is very important to ask questions. Through asking questions, people see that we care about them. It also often open a door for us to share the truth with that person, even if it is just to plant a seed in their hearts. I challenge you( and myself) to ask more questions and give less answers.
*We got together every night, read a bible story and discussed the story together. We also invited the farm owner, his wife and another volunteer to join us a few times.
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