A casual lunch two days ago where I would typically make shallow conversation took on a serious tone at one point and that was when, more or less, I received a divine non-answer to some of the issues I’ve been grappling with recently.

The answer was divine because the last thing I expected to do was discuss my issues, and to get an authentic and sympathetic response to the difficult questions in return.

The answer was a non-answer because I did not get a "yes"/"no", "right"/"wrong" or "do this" or "do that" type response.  Rather, as in the case of Job, Habakkuk and Paul, the response was that we don’t and may probably never fully understand why things are the way they are, and that we just have to cling to the fact that God is loving, sovereign and in control nonetheless.  While uncomfortable with the uncertainty which the non-answer presents, I think I accept that, like Job, Habakkuk and Paul, non-answers are not reasons to live or love any less passionately as Christians.