THOUGHTS ON ASKING "WHY"
The question “Why?” is posed about 420 times in the Bible (according to The Strongest NASB Exhaustive Concordance). Some of the questions are directed to God from man, others to man from God, and still others between men.
We begin asking “Why?” at a very early age, usually as a toddler. It is in our human nature to want to know the reason or purpose for actions we must take or events that happen in our lives (or the lives of others). I remember a little boy I used to baby-sit, who is now driving, by the way… Wow, that makes me feel old! He was never satisfied with any answer I gave to his questions. Each answer was followed with another “why?”
“Why is the sky blue?”
“Because God made it that way.”
“Why?”
“Because He wanted to.”
“Why?”
“Because He thinks it’s a pretty color”
“Why?”
“Because…..”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why?”
Eventually you can distract a 4-year-old with a toy or game and his inquisitive mind gives you peace for a time. However, as we get older, we become more persistent in ask “why?” Especially when we don’t understand the reason God allows certain situations that bring us grief or pain or lack the knowledge of purpose behind it. Thankfully, our Father is patient with us when we continue to question Him and comforts us with His Word. His answer is often a simple “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
In the Bible, Job’s questions with questions (and a bit of sarcasm) that bring the realization of the Lord’s supreme authority over all things.
God answers:“Would you discredit My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like His? Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.” (Job 40:8-10)
Job replies:“I know that You can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You ask, ‘Who is this that obscures My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.”(Job 42:2-3)
I really like Job’s response. He humbly acknowledges God’s ability to do “all things” and his inability to understand the reason why God allows suffering. In the end, we may still have questions and they may never be answered to our satisfaction, yet, we must trust that God knows what He is doing. He created us and everything around us. He causes everything to work together for a purpose, even when we don’t know what it is. This is a difficult lesson to learn (and re-learn) during difficult times in our life. We so often want to be in control and want to know the “why” of everything. Sometimes we just have to trust.
I pray that my heart will be as the following verses—with earnest trust in our Father’s lovingkindness and faithfulness.
“LORD, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child with its mother. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—now and always.”(Psalm 131)
Maybe God is trying to tell me something here, I don't know. I've been thinking a lot lately about the problem of evil, and read Jenni's blog only minutes after finding this passage in J.B. Phillips' You God Is Too Small:
Modern man has a lust for full explanation and habitually considers himself in no way morally bound unless he is in full possession of all the facts. Hence, of course, the prevalence of non-committal agnosticism. Yet it would seem that Christ, God-become-Man, did not give men a full explanation of the origin and operation of the evil forces in this world. (It is perfectly possible that in our present space-time existence we could not comprehend it, anyway.)
I think there's something in us, a hubris, that leads us to believe that we have the right to question God regarding evil. But honestly, whether it be the result of sinful actions (our own or someone else's), or some natural calamity, who are we to judge?
Of course, that doesn't mean that we'll never understand any of the evil that troubles us, occasionally we do understand and I believe we should always try to understand, but the idea that we can always understand, or that we have a right to understand... where does that come from? Certainly not the Bible.
Which leads us to our application. (After all, contemplation without application leads to constipation.) I guess, for me, the application is comfort. Not that I've suffered unduly in life, but I've been through my fair share of "evil" and I expect a lot more is coming, but I take comfort in the knowledge that although I will try to see the reasons behind it all, I don't have to understand it all. It helps me keep the world in a proper perspective, really. God is God. He's infinitely bigger that I am. He's infinitely smarter than I am. He's ultimately more wise than I am, and He's going to take care of everything. My life might never be the same. I might be completely shattered by circumstances, but He's not surprised, He's not in panic mode, He's in control. And yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take comfort in the sure knowledge that evil is only a shadow. It will be cast away by the light of heaven where in the end all things are made new, right and holy. This life will be marked by suffering and pain. Only a fool would deny that. If it hasn't come yet, it will. So the application comes in the hope of a future set apart, in the comfort of knowing that justice and healing will come in God's perfect time.
