Is this really a difficult question? I suppose it is reasonable to ask it of those believers who hinge their whole argument on “every effect must have a cause and therefore the universe must have had a cause”. In this framework the question of where the universe comes from simply backs up one stage, and the question of who made God comes into play.

On the other hand if we work on the perfectly logical basis that an almighty God is exterior to our universe and not subjected to the physical laws on which we base our natural presuppositions of “cause and effect” then the question is void of meaning.

Now that by no means that it is a bad or illogical question to ask. It’s just that certain questions are only valid provided that they rest on solid premises. In this case the premises for the question depend on God being contingent on the same laws as we are. But as the creator of all things including the laws, the premise in this case cannot stand.

We cannot even state any premises to replace them, which in the minds of some people is just a way to avoid the question. But the reality is that things are what they are. If the laws governing God’s existence are different from ours, or indeed God is not governed by any laws that would be comprehensible to us, then that’s just the way it is.

One thing I will say is that nobody had to explain a timeless God to me. When I was a very young person I recall that I reached the conclusion that if God created all things then he must have created time. If God created time then he most likely is not constrained by time as we know it. Therefore the eternal nature of God, and his lack of contingency, was not severely problematic for me to grasp. I’m not saying I was bright or right. I’m simply saying that some people can accept these facts and comprehend that the problem is not solvable in terms that can be described in general physical terms. I actually still struggle to see why very smart people sometimes make a great deal out of this question rather than acknowledge that the premise of an almighty God outside of space and time means that the question is inherently likely to lead to paradoxical responses.

It’s not a case of avoiding a valid question. It’s a case of not wasting time over attempting to answer an an invalid question.