That we can learn things from the bible is a huge understatement. Being God's very word, the bible has some really major things to tell us! But therein lies the danger too - what if the lesson you pick out from it is wrong?
Today, I received an email devotional (which I don't even recall signing up for) which went like this:
Job asked God why many times when he went through sufferring.
But God did not answer his questions but asked him many questions.
David asked Him why!
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?" Psalm 22:1.
But no answer!!
Jesus, the Son of David asked the same question to God His Father.
"From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"
- which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matt.27:45,46.
The Father God gave no answer!!!
He just trusted His Father and committed His life into His hands.
When we are faced with confused situations-
- our question should not be why but what.
Do not ask God-
"Why did You allow this to happen?"
But ask God-
"What do You want me to learn through this?"
That's what Saul on the road to Damascus asked Jesus whom he was persecuting.
When Saul was out of God's will-
-he had a fall and he became blind and humbled.
He asked Jesus:
"Lord, what do You want me to do?" Acts 9:6.
May God reveal His will to you-
-that you may please Him to bless you!
* * *
Now to be sure, I'm not opposed to everything in that devotional. We should
definitely be asking God what He wants us to learn through circumstances in life and be continually seeking His will for us.
But let's re-examine the logic used by the author of the article:
- Job, David and Jesus all asked God "why?"
- God didn't answer.
- Therefore, we shouldn't ask God "why?" but rather "what?"
I hate to say this, but that's pretty faulty logic. Like I mentioned before, the final conclusion of the article is fine, but the way the author got there is really weird. And I reckon he/she missed a very vital point.
If anything, the examples of Job, David and Jesus Himself asking God "why" questions should suggest that it's actually
ok for us to do the same! Here were 3 very godly men (one of whom was God the Son Himself) in terrible situations, crying out to God and asking for a reason for their suffering. True, God did not answer, but does that therefore mean that we are thus banned from asking why in the first place? 3 thoughts.
- Job suffered immensely (just read the book of Job!) and expressed his pain and confusion clearly to God, but we cannot mistake that for a lack of faith! Job never once questioned the goodness of God; he definitely asked God why he was suffering, but it wasn't out of unbelief. When Job was first told the terrible news, his first response was to bless God, and we read in Job 1:21 that
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
In other words, even though Job asked God why - God did not count that against him as sin.
- David's example, in my opinion, is similar. The psalms are a great example of the expression of human emotion and feelings before God. Yes, emotions are not the most important things, and often not to be trusted, but a big lesson we learn from the psalms is that we can tell God everything, even what's deep down in our hearts. God, our loving heavenly Father, wants us to come before Him openly and sincerely - in Him (through the death of Jesus) is love and acceptance and forgiveness, never a turning away.
- Jesus' example is completely different. On a human level, yes, Jesus showed us that even He could ask God "why" questions, but the meaning behind his cry on the cross is far more profound. On the cross as He was dying, Jesus shouted out (Mark 15:34b) -
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
This was a direct quote from Psalm 22 (the first verse) and most scholars agree that Jesus was in essense referring to the entire psalm, which captured (predicted!) incredibly what Jesus was going through, and the hope that laid waiting in the future.
But that's still only touching the surface. We must never make the mistake of thinking that this cry reveals Jesus as a poor human who didn't understand what God was trying to put Him through, or why He had to die. Be sure of this - Jesus knew exactly why He had to die (Mark 10:32-34) and willingly gave up His own life (John 10:17-18). This terrible cry of anguish on the cross was not made by a forgetful poor soul who needed a divine reminder; it was the cry of a crucified saviour who was at that moment experiencing the complete wrath of God - the punishment for all the sins of the world.
My sins. Your sins. They were all laid on Jesus that day, and the punishment was way worse than being whipped, dragged through the streets, or nailed to a cross - it was utter separation from God. There could be nothing worse. Because Jesus was rejected by God on the cross, we are now acceptable to Him. Our sins have been transferred, and we have been forgiven. That's why Jesus said those words.
We return to where we started. We can see now that it's not wrong to ask God "why". It's way better than hiding from God and not speaking to Him at all. But if "why" is the only question we ever ask God, then that shows that we've missed the point again. Because God's ways are way higher than our ways (as are His thoughts - Isaiah 55:9), we'll never know or even understand the answers to all our "why" questions. At the end of the day, the real issue is how much faith (trust) we have in God.
If you're going through a hard time at the moment, take heart. Cry out to God and ask Him
why; don't be afraid to express yourself to Him. But don't ever doubt His goodness. Have faith in His everlasting love, which is always sufficient for you, giving you the strength to love Him and to love others (1 John 4:19). And if you ever feel like God's love is distant, look to the cross, where the sinless saviour died in your place. He was completely rejected, so that you could be completely forgiven. There's no greater love than that.
