Why me, Lord? Why them, Lord?

"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Psalm 22:1

Yes, the "why" question. I am sure you have heard others ask it; in fact, I'm pretty sure you have asked it at some point in your life. Maybe you are even asking God WHY right now.

You have heard the cliché - "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." I read recently that the remainder of that saying should continue, "The tough get going in the opposite direction!" Right? When times are tough, when we don't understand, when we are not happy with the way things are or what is happening in our lives... we tend more to run and hide than anything else. Or at least in our hearts that's what we want to do.

Are you in a pit? Are you finding yourself in a holding pattern without clarity of direction? Are you in personal or physical pain? Maybe you feel like you are wandering around in the dark. I do not know where you are at, but I know the God who does know and totally understands. The hard part is that He does not always choose to answer our question "why". (God told us why Job had to suffer, but Job was never let in on that secret.)

Even though He may not directly answer our "why" questions, He does choose in His Word to give us some possible explanations or reasons for our suffering and trials. One well-known example is that we are to: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance" (James 1:2-3).

In his book, The Problem with Pain, C.S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscious, but shouts in our pain." Pour out your heart to God, ask Him why and trust Him that He will take care, and make it all make sense in His grand story for your life. "Trust in Him, at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us."

Bill Bright challenged us in His book, The Journey Home, to not be like the Pharisees whom Jesus admonished because "you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God"(Matt. 22:29). It will be true that when we have some understanding of how God is working in our lives and how our troubles fit into His plan, it is much easier to accept difficulties. He further challenges us to put this sign on our soul today: "GOD IS AT WORK."

My goal is to write some Victory Calls which will look further into the question of "Why?" I hope you join me on this journey. Let me end with this today - it is always good to remind ourselves that God is loving, kind and just, and that brings us the promise of hope, the promise of new life, the promise of restoration, and the good news of a peace that passes all understanding.

Lynne Jahns
Christian Counselor
Director, KESWICK Institute of Biblical Studies

DIGGING DEEPER
James 4:5-6
Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"?
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (ESV)