WHY

(devotional for Sunday, 7/29/12)

"Why?" is a loaded question.  Have you ever had a young child ask you over and over again, "But why?".  It can be very annoying.  Sometimes we do the same thing to God.  We ask him "Why?" when things don't go the way we expect.  We ask him "Why?" when we see injustices occur in this world to the weak, the defenseless, including children or animals.  We ask him "Why?" when we suffer great losses in our lives.  Sometimes we even ask him "Why" with huge tears in our eyes when we don't want to face something, or even don't want to continue on in this world.  There are so many things we ask God "why" about, sometimes not really wanting an answer, but rather to express our disapproval of the way God has handled things.  We are like that little child, tugging at God's arm, asking over and over again, "But why?"

We are not alone in asking that age-old question.  Job asked it over and over again, why did you allow me to be born (Job 3:11), it would have been better for me to have been stillborn (Job 3:16), why are you hiding from me and treating me like an enemy (Job 13:24), why do the wicked continue to live and grow in power (Job 21:7), why don't you punish those wicked people now so we can see justice carried out (Job 24:1).  It is repeated often in the Psalms also: why do you seem to hide when times of trouble abound (Psalm 10:1), why are you so far away when I am groaning in pain (Psalm 22:1), why do you turn your back on us when we are miserable and oppressed (Psalm 44:24), why don't you destroy those evil people now (Psalm 74:11).  Even Jesus while he was hanging on the cross asked the Father, "My God, my God, Why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

There may never be a fully satisfactory answer for all of us in all circumstances to that question, "Why?"  But who are we to question the almighty God and his motives or actions?  All we know is that God is loving and merciful, but also all-powerful and just.  He does not cause evil things to occur, but he does allow them to happen. It is hard for us to understand if he has the power to stop evil and he is a loving god, how he can allow the evil to go on.  Perhaps it is to get our attention, or to wake us up to turn to him in our times of need.  It may serve as an example to others when we continue to trust him in spite of our agonies, or when we intervene on behalf of the weak and helpless.  These things may be our witness to the world of how faithful people of God are to act in times of distress.  We can show others that in spite of our own weaknesses or our own life injustices, we can still share the miracles and blessings that we have also experienced either in spite of or even because of those difficulties or tragedies. We can be God's example of love in this corrupt world, helping others through the same difficulties, and bringing more people to faith.  We must trust that God has an ultimate plan that cannot be thwarted by any evil this world can dish out, and that God will use whatever means necessary to carry out that plan.  Nothing in this world can ever separate us from the love of God and he will never truly forsake us.  God is in control in all circumstances, and even though we may not always know the reasons why things occur as they do, we know that if we remain faithful that our loving, merciful and just God will take care of it all in the end.

God has not taken away the storms in my life, but rather has sheltered me from being drenched in eternal misery and taught me to dance in the rain and bring sunshine to the lives of others.  So, "Why not?"

written by Jan Andersen