WHY GOD…QUESTIONS ANSWERED

High SchoolAmplify United
Written By Amanda Hahn

Preached to: Middle & High School Students

Speaker: Pastor Amanda Hahn

This week in Amplify Youth as we wrapped up our series WHY: Own Your Faith, we tackled some real and honest questions students have been asking about God — like why He feels silent, why evil exists, and whether we can truly trust Him. Through Scripture and conversation, we discovered that even when we don’t understand everything, God is still working, still present, and still trustworthy. Ultimately, all of our questions point back to the Gospel — the good news that Jesus died for our sins and made a way for us to have a relationship with God. The challenge for students was simple but powerful: not “Do I understand everything?” but “Will I trust God anyway?”

God isn’t afraid of your questions… He wants you to trust Him.

Keep up with all that’s going on at Amplify Youth, including dates, times, sign-ups, and forms, on our main page.

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  • 🍽️ Night 1: Trusting God When It’s Hard

    Focus: God’s silence & trust

    1. Have you ever felt like God didn’t answer a prayer? What did that feel like?

    2. Why do you think it’s hard to trust someone when you don’t hear from them?

    3. What do you think it means that “God’s silence is not His absence”?

    4. What is one way you can keep trusting God this week, even if you don’t understand everything?

    👉 Bonus Scripture to read together: Psalm 13:1–2

    🍽️ Night 2: Why Is the World So Broken?

    Focus: Evil, pain, and free will

    1. What is something in the world that makes you ask, “God, why?”

    2. Why do you think God gives people the ability to choose, even if they choose wrong?

    3. Can you think of a time when something bad turned into something good?

    4. How does knowing that “God doesn’t waste pain” change how you see hard situations?

    👉 Bonus Scripture: Genesis 50:20

    🍽️ Night 3: What Will I Do With Jesus?

    Focus: The Gospel & personal decision

    1. In your own words, what is the Gospel?

    2. Why do you think God gives us a choice to follow Him instead of forcing us?

    3. What does it mean to “trust God” in your daily life (school, friends, decisions)?

    4. Is there a step you feel like God is asking you to take right now?

    👉 Bonus Scripture: Romans 10:9

  • Intro / Recap

    • Series: WHY: Own Your Faith

    • Big Idea: Borrowed faith won’t last — you have to own it

    • Tonight: Answering your questions

    • Main Question: Can I trust God… even when I don’t understand Him?

    1️⃣ When God Feels Silent

    • We’ve all experienced unanswered prayers

    • 📖 Psalm 13:1

    • Truth: God’s silence is not His absence

    • God’s answers: Yes / No / Wait

    • 👉 Silence may be process, not rejection

    2️⃣ Why Does God Allow Evil?

    • We see pain, hurt, injustice

    • 📖 Deuteronomy 30:19

    • Truth: God gives choice (free will)

    • 📖 Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28

    • 👉 God doesn’t waste pain and will ultimately end evil

    3️⃣ Why Doesn’t God Force Us to Follow Him?

    • Forced love isn’t real love

    • 📖 Joshua 24:15, John 3:16

    • Truth: God wants relationship, not control

    • 👉 The choice to follow Him is real

    4️⃣ What About People Who Haven’t Heard?

    • 📖 John 14:6 – Jesus is the only way

    • 📖 Romans 1:20 – God reveals Himself

    • 📖 Romans 10:13–15 – People need to hear

    • 👉 This is why we share our faith

    ✝️ The Answer: The Gospel

    • 📖 1 Corinthians 15:3–4, Romans 1:16

    The Gospel:

    • God created us for relationship

    • Sin broke that relationship

    • Jesus paid the price

    • We respond by faith

    👉 God made me, sin broke me, Jesus saved me, I choose to follow Him

    💥 Big Truth: The Gospel gives us a reason to trust God. If God loved you enough to die for you, you can trust Him

    🙌 Response / Challenge

    • Question: Will I trust God anyway?

    • Trust Him when:

      • He feels silent

      • Life feels unfair

      • You don’t have answers

    🪜 Next Steps

    • #1 Talk to someone tonight

    • #2 Start a daily rhythm (5 minutes)

    • #3 Keep showing up

    👉 God isn’t afraid of your questions… He wants you to trust Him.

  • Psalm 13:1 (NLT)

    “O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?”

    Deuteronomy 30:19 (NLT)

    “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses…oh that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”

    John 14:6(NLT)

    “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’”

    Romans 1:20‍ (NLT)

    “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

    Romans 10:13–15 (NLT)

    “For everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? “

Amanda Hahn
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WHY I TRUST GOD