WHY ASK WHY?

Okay.  I’m back.  Many thanks to my friend Jim for redoing my entire site.  It now has fewer sections thus allowing me to focus more on why I really started this blog in the first place-to honor the glory of a loving God.  I know most of us these days are inundated with a lot of information from different sources.  And we have to pick and choose what we want to spend our time on.  For that reason my posts will be shorter and hopefully compelling enough for folks to gain some insights into the faithfulness and the graciousness of our amazing God.  

Very recently the ridiculousness of asking God, “Why me?” hit me like a hammer that didn’t miss its mark.  Coming home after a stress filled day, not the least of which was some rather disconcerting news of a medical nature, I noticed my garbage can had been blown over by the wind (luckily, the garbage had already been collected). 

My emotions, already in high gear, exploded and I wanted to yell out, loud enough to be sure God heard me, “Why me, Lord?”  I didn’t but I sure thought it.  Can you imagine being triggered by a blown over garbage can?

Maybe you’ve had days when everything seems to go wrong?  Just don’t go as planned?  You just can’t seem to keep it all together.  And maybe you’ve even had some “Why Me” questions arise during those times. 

Certainly God wants us to bring our distress and sorrow to him.  Lamenting and questioning helps us process some of our deepest feelings.  Look at the Psalms of David (“Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”).  And Moses (“Why have you dealt ill with your servant?”).  And even Jesus on the the cross questioning why God had forsaken him.

Is God’s really in the business of answering the why questions of our lives?  No.  At least not in the way we want.  Or as quickly as we might like.

God owes us no explanation.  He is God and we are not.  When we ask God why, it takes him off the throne of being God.  Like we have no faith that He knows what he is doing.  And perhaps we think we could handle the problem better if he would just tell us why.

If he chose to do this, I fear his answer would be most unsatisfying.  Imagine him saying it was because of “the fall”.  I don’t think I would feel much comfort in that nor would I feel like my why had been answered.  

And yet, he wants us to keep our faith in him and to know that in his time all will be answered.  In my experience, my WHYS were not answered in the moment.  Maybe weeks, months, even years later, something will happen in my life and I’ll be jolted with an “AHA!” moment.  So that’s why that happened.  Now I get it.  

So what do we do when we want the answer to why this or that is happening?  When we are in the midst of a chaotic situation or we’ve just lost our job.  Maybe our marriage is falling apart.  The untimely death of a loved one.  Or an accident or illness causes us a great deal of pain or maybe even a long suffering disability.  How do we deal with these problems and situations?  There may be no obvious answer to why this or that happened. Its then that we must really open ourselves up to God, not questioning why, but asking HOW and WHAT.  

HOW might God be using this situation to glorify himself?  Or maybe WHAT is he trying to teach us?  About him.  About ourselves.  WHAT do you want me to learn, Lord, from these circumstances?

God is all about his promises to help us through tough times.  His word is present throughout the scriptures with answers to the HOWs and WHATs that we need to push through our problems.  He comforts us.  He teaches us to walk by faith and that true peace is found only in him.  Our all loving and compassionate God is always present even during our most troubled times.  His faithfulness endures forever.

Look to his words in the following scriptures: 

Psalm 46:1-3 – “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

Psalm 73:26 – “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” 

Isaiah 41:13 – “For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’” 

Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” 

My refuge and strength, the strength of my heart, holding my right hand, directing my path.  Are these not promises that God will see us through the most difficult times?  Do they not stir our hearts and strengthen our resolve to trust that God is there for us?  We may not know the WHY we are going through a current trial but he assures us by his word that he will be with us.  Ask God WHAT He wants us to learn from our journey.  He will supply the HOW for us to accomplish the WHAT.  Rest assured brothers and sisters that what He is teaching us is always for our ultimate good.