DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS OR SHARE YOUR HEART!--By Maria  8/91     Maria #148 DO 2715


         1. I want to ask you JETTs and Teens to please understand that when you read my Letter to Tony, "Tony's Last Chance," I am not trying to make you think that your situation is exactly the same as Tony's! His situation is very different from yours in a lot of ways. Remember, he is a 24-year-old adult, and he's had these serious problems for years.--And he's very responsible and accountable before the Lord due to all the training he's had.--Whereas many of you are much younger than he is, and the Lord does not hold you nearly as accountable because most of you are still young and growing and in the age of decision.

         2. ALTHOUGH WE'VE HAD TO DEAL WITH TONY'S DESTRUCTIVE QUESTIONS AND CRITICISMS AND COMPLAINTS, we don't want you JETTs and Teens to misunderstand and now clam up tight and quit being honest and sharing what's on your hearts, for fear of being disciplined in the same manner. What I said before in the Techi Series still applies as much now as ever:

         3. "I would never want you to feel that we are closed off to any questions you may have.--Even questions that might look like doubts! That's the way you learn things, by asking questions!--And when you get your questions answered, then you can help teach others who may have similar questions.

         4. "SO WHEN YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT SOMETHING, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU FEEL FREE TO ASK. After all, the Lord has the answers to EVERYTHING, so there's nothing that we should be afraid of addressing and facing together. And of course, if we don't know the answer off hand, we can pray for the Lord's wisdom and solutions, that He will give us the answers in some way. We can discuss it. Maybe we can even pow-wow it.--And we can look in the WORD and see what the Word has to say about it.

         5. "TECHI HAS TOLD ME THAT EVEN WHEN I CAN'T ANSWER HER QUESTIONS IMMEDIATELY, she just feels relieved that she's been able to ASK me. At least she's been able to unburden her heart, and it is a real RELIEF to her, and she's then able to go on without being troubled by whatever it was that she was questioning.

         6. "So whenever it's something that you have actual questions about, you should express those questions, no matter how stupid or foolish the question may seem. A question is a question, and if it's legitimate in your mind, then you should certainly express it. And as I said, even if you don't get a satisfactory answer immediately, just the fact that you've been allowed to unburden yourself and ask, sometimes solves the whole problem and relieves that burden.--At least you then feel that someone knows about it and understands what you're going through!

         7. "SO PLEASE, ASK QUESTIONS! You should feel FREE to bring up anything that troubles you and ask questions.--Because if you DON'T, you're going to wind up holding that in your heart, and as a result, you could easily grow fearful or doubtful about it. The more you hold things like that INSIDE and the less you TALK about them, the more the Devil can blow them up and trouble you with it." (From "Let'm Ask" and "More on Letting'm Ask," #2650 and #2651, GN 453.)

         8. YOU CAN VOICE TO YOUR SHEPHERDS EVEN WHAT MIGHT SEEM TO YOU TO BE COMPLAINTS, because they may be LEGITIMATE and they may be something that actually NEEDS to be brought up, that NEEDS to be taken care of. Of course, it's best to avoid DESTRUCTIVE criticism, and voice only CONSTRUCTIVE criticism--criticism or ideas that the Lord may have put on your heart for the good of your Home or the Work or the whole Family. But because it's not always so easy to tell if what you're thinking is CONstructive or DEstructive, you should feel encouraged to initially voice to your Shepherds WHATEVER is on your heart, unless you're absolutely SURE it's bad and in a bad spirit.

         9. But if you have any question at all, it's best to go ahead and voice it to your Shepherds, and then it will be your Shepherds' or parents' responsibility to not only try to give you the answer or explanation that you seek, but also to let you know if you're out of line in any way. And if you're told that you're out of line, then you'll know and you'll be able to clearly see that you're on the wrong track or going in the wrong direction, which, of course, is a dangerous thing to do.

         10. BUT WHEN YOU ASK QUESTIONS, IF YOU'RE NOT TOLD THAT WHAT YOU'RE ASKING IS OUT OF LINE, then you can feel free to CONTINUE to voice any such questions on your heart in hopes of getting answers and explanations. Due to lack of experience, young people often have misconceptions and misinterpretations, but with just a little "explain, explain" you can so easily get your problems and questions cleared up and be marvellously freed from doubts and misunderstandings, and get back on the track going in the right direction. Even just a little explanation can often free you from a big bondage that you may be under, and can chase away big clouds of condemnation or doubt or confusion.

         11. SO IF YOU JETTS AND TEENS HAVE QUESTIONS AND DOUBTS OR MISUNDERSTANDINGS OR MISCONCEPTIONS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK! And you will most likely be handled very gently, even repeatedly over a period of time.--Unless you start voicing your questions or problems to your PEERS and thus start to contaminate them and cause doubt, confusion, division and dissension within the ranks! This is where your Shepherds would have to really draw the line fast and stop it. You see, there is a delicate balance in this, because murmuring and complaining is like "sowing discord among brethren" (Pro.6:19), which is an ABOMINATION to God and can have very poisonous effects and therefore cannot be tolerated. But on the other hand, when you have questions and doubts or even complaints, you NEED to voice them to your SHEPHERDS because they can HELP you overcome them.

         12. We want to make it very clear that in Tony's case, he was wrong in that he kept harbouring and raising the same type of questions over and over and over again, the same nagging doubts, questions and criticisms.--Even though his Shepherds had explained things and tried to answer him again and again, over a period of months and months and even years. In other words, he didn't receive their answers, he didn't have a "love of the Truth," and he held on to his doubts and criticisms for years.

         13. ANOTHER BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOW TONY HANDLED HIS COMPLAINTS AND HOW YOU SHOULD HANDLE COMPLAINTS IS THAT TONY COMPLAINED AND GRIPED TO A LOT OF PEOPLE. Of course, he says he was talking to his leaders, but when he didn't get what he felt was a satisfactory answer from ONE leader, he went to ANOTHER and another and another, until he had really SPREAD his gripes all around. He discussed his problems with practically every leader he could get to listen to him, and that's not correct procedure either.

         14. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE ANSWER YOU GET FROM ONE LEADER, then you SHOULDN'T just automatically run to the next leader you can get your hands on and ask them the same questions!--You should PRAY first, and honestly ask yourself WHY you don't like your leader's answer.--And search your heart and make sure you're YIELDED to the Lord, and not just being STUBBORN or REBELLIOUS by looking for the answers YOU want instead of the LORD'S answers! Tony continued to ask and ask and ask the same questions because he had REJECTED the answers his leaders were giving him. So obviously, his OHR wasn't really a genuine QUESTION, it was a real COMPLAINT in the guise or form of a question.

         15. I WANT TO REASSURE YOU THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT GETTING A BIG REBUKE FOR ASKING QUESTIONS OR VOICING YOUR PROBLEMS, as long as you're just talking to your SHEPHERDS about it and you're just asking THEM. So if you have a question that you really want to know about, then ASK, and leave the responsibility of whether it's right or wrong to your Shepherds. But DON'T go voicing your doubts and misunderstandings to your PEERS! Ask your LEADERSHIP--even if you have a LOT of different questions. Just keep ASKING! And you'll find that such communication is a tremendous help in getting any misunderstandings or problems cleared up.

         16. WE MAY NOT ALWAYS KNOW ALL THE ANSWERS IMMEDIATELY, but we DO know the Answer-Man!--Jesus! And if we sincerely hunger for the Truth and seek it unitedly in LOVE, we will find it! (Mat.7:7) PTL! ILY!


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