God, why?
“God, why [fill in the blank].” This question is on my mind almost all of the time. Whether it’s, “God, why do I feel alone,” or “God, why did this happen to me?” There are so many questions that I ask God throughout the week. Questions about suffering, purpose, dreams, relationships, etc. And this is good. There’s nothing wrong with questioning God. Talking to God is a good thing as well as being honest. But here lately I’ve been thinking as to why I’m not getting answers to all my questions. Why would God not answer some of my questions (at least in the way I had hoped he would)? To be honest, I still really don’t know. But maybe we just aren’t asking the right questions.
Sometimes I want God to solve things that He has perfectly equipped me to handle on my own. Just like a parent training your child how to walk. If you always carry him everywhere he goes, he will never learn to walk. You have to let him do it on his own. God, being a good Father, wants us to become more Christ-like. I believe that along with glorifying Him, being Christ-like is His goal for us. Therefore sometimes that means letting us go through pain and troubles. Because we don’t see God’s grand purpose in everything, we question Him. We ask Him why He let our friend die. Or why He gave us bad parents. Or why some people are handicapped. We can let the “why’s” drive us crazy if we let it.
I believe that God has a purpose for our lives and that all things work for the good of those called according to the love of Christ. Sometimes the troubles in our life don’t make sense in the moment. We don’t understand what God is up to, or how He could possible make it into a good situation. But God is always looking out for our best interest whether we see it that way or not. That doesn’t mean financially, physically, or emotionally. Sometimes I don’t have any money. Sometimes my body hurts. Sometimes I’m depressed. God didn’t send His son to die so that I could experience comfort while on Earth, but rather so that I could be free to follow Him and spend eternity with Him, the ultimate comfort. The suffering I experience in this life should only draw me close to God and make me more Christ-like.
Before we start questioning God, we need to take a long hard look at ourselves. First off, if you are a Christian then you have the God living inside of you. It’s called the Holy Spirit. It’s actually better that you have God inside of you than having Jesus standing right next to you. He said it Himself. How much you allow God to work inside of you is up to you. But my point is, you have the power that created the universe inside of you. You can handle any situation that can ever be thrown at you with God’s help. Last Sunday my pastor said this, “the worst thing that can happen to you is that you be killed and go be with Jesus which is the best thing that can happen to you.” That’s what it means to build your foundation on Christ and to count up your costs. There is nothing that anyone can take away from you greater than your salvation.
I used to find myself constantly wanting answers from God. Sometimes He did answer me in my most desperate hours ,but many a times He did not. I was forced to ask myself if I wanted answers more than I wanted God. I begged God for answers daily asking Him why this, why that, instead of just seeking Him and doing as He willed. A lot of times God has already answered the questions we have. First off, go read the Bible. God gave a lot of answers already through His word, and most likely can answer you through His word. Sometimes we want God to part the sky and come down and tell us the answer then leave us alone. Are we really willing to listen? And how badly do we really want to know?
Seek and you will find Him. Ask and the door will be opened. But you have to keep seeking and keep asking. God may eventually get tired of you asking and go ahead and give you an answer. But remember, it’s not always the answer we were expecting. Read Job and you can see that plain as day.
God is ultimately out for your good. I don’t know why every single bad thing happens to you. Some things God allows so that you can grow. Others occur because of sin in your life and the sin of others. People ask how God could allow a little girl to be raped when God never caused that in the first place. Sin did. A man’s evil sin caused that happen. But with God, any situation can have good come from it. I do believe that. God is the answer. Seek Him, and you will get everything else thrown in.
