Asking “Why?”

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Your grandfather dies and you cry out to God “why now?”  The circumstances you find yourself in seem unnecessarily tough. Meeting the right guy or girl never seems to happen though you feel so ready. This week was one disaster after another. Someone who’s been through so much gets even yet more bad news.

Why?

Do you ever feel guilty for asking God “why?” Don’t. You aren’t the first –and you may not be sinning.

It isn’t disobedience to say, as the desperate father found in Mark 9:24 did: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” In John 11, we read about Lazarus’ death, Jesus’ weeping, and Mary’s words: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Think of the faithful examples in the Old Testament as well. Didn’t Job ask God why? And David? Consider his cry in Psalm 10:1 for example:

“Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”

Can you imagine Joseph, a young man sold into slavery, not at times asking the Lord why He allowed these things to happen? In fact, Joseph referred to have sought a reason for why God allowed so much to happen to him, saying in Genesis 45:7 to his brothers: “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”

Esther 4:14 also contains this powerful example of looking at the “why” of God’s work: “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"

The prophets give us example after example as well. Just imagine Ezekiel’s question of “why” as God explained to Ezekiel that he was to be a watchman to a people who were hard, rebellious, and unlikely to listen to him. He asked Ezekiel to perform strange rituals as warnings –acts that often caused Ezekiel to live despised. What a futile task, it would seem!

But in all of these examples, in all of the implied and more direct “why” moments, God never rebukes His people. Our Lord never condemns any of us for asking “why.”

To ask God “why” often isn’t wrong at all. The confusion about this comes, however, when “why” involves:

• A test of His character
• A rejection of His will
• An act of disobedience

To disobey God, your intentions or actions contradict His Word, work, or person. You can ask why humbly, faithfully, and as a plea toward the perfect Lord. You can also ask Him why with the implication that He has done wrong –which is blasphemy.

Likewise, you can have doubt, you can struggle with unbelief, without sinning. Watch, however, that you do not act on doubt. To say, “because I don’t understand it, I won’t do it, Lord” negates faith. “Because I can’t grasp how you can be good and do this, I won’t go along with it” is rebellion and requires the pride of assuming you know better than He does.

Sin is sneaky like that. Satan clouds and distorts the truth to trick us –that’s more effective in many cases than outright lying. The “bent” truth here?

That asking “why” is sin. It’s not. Avoid assuming that your “why, Lord” trumps your ability to say “yes, Lord.”

…And ask away. Cry out like David. Consider His answer like Esther. Testify to His revealing of the “why” as Joseph did. Pray for Him to help your unbelief. The Lord does not condemn us for acting like His children.

This post is being shared on: #TestimonyTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, Intentionally Pursuing,Titus2sday, Woman to Woman Wednesday, Women with Intention, andTellHisStory.

Your Testimony Isn't Over...

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You describe what was going on in your life, explaining what led you to your decision. Throughout the story you share about those special moments and “coincidences” that boosted your faith. Perhaps for you the story is short and it’s sweet. For others, it’s much more dramatic. As you tell the story, you arrive at the crux (perhaps better said: the cross.)

Here, you proclaim the truth. Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

Now don’t stop. Don’t conclude your testimony with “the end.”

So often, so many of us slap “happily ever after” onto our testimonies, as if Christ saving us is the end of the story.

Worse yet, there are many Christians who determine, having been saved and changed, that the rest of their lives is theirs to live as they please. With a happily ever after coming at the end, they, like the Corinthian Christians figure they might as well pass the rest of their earthly lives as they please.

We act like this when we don’t want to be up front about our continued sin and don’t care all that much about living right now like we are citizens of heaven. The words slip out as if what’s past is past and that’s what defines us, putting our hope in the Lord who saved us but not in the same One who is glad to change us today.

Concerned with what’s right in front of us, we approach life with the shortsighted priority of preserving our reputations, our senses of accomplishment, and our immediate emotions.  When life is hard, we may still testify that He is real but feel nothing of His joy because we are caught up in present circumstances.

We can live like that if we choose.

But we don’t have to.

You don’t have to say “the end” after sharing that Jesus died for you because Christ is still living and you are free to live in Him today. And tomorrow.

He’s still active. He’s still present. Though your end on earth is secure, you aren’t there yet. You’re still a work in progress –one that will be brought to completion.

Keep in mind that “the end,” too, is all caught up in God. He’s the Alpha and the Omega –the beginning and the end. He defines eternity, security, time, and hope. The very word “Omega” describes the limitlessness of our God.

We read in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

The well-known words of Isaiah 41:10 also read:

“So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

But, it’s just a few a little earlier, in verse 4, that we read:

“Who has done this and carried it through,

calling forth the generations from the beginning?

I, the Lord—with the first of them

and with the last—I am he.”

What’s to come in your testimony? What’s the Lord doing in your life right now? What was is important, but it’s not everything. He was with the first generations and will be with the last. He was present when you first accepted Christ as your Savior, and He will be the day that you go confidently before God, hopeful to hear that He is well-pleased.

For King and Country’s It’s Not Over Yet offers a wonderful reminder for those of us who don’t feel that our testimony is continuing or wonder if the Lord is still at work in our lives:

This post is being shared on: #TestimonyTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, Intentionally Pursuing, Titus2sday, and Thought-Provoking Thursday.