Kids grow up way too fast. One of my favorite times in there very young life is when they question everything. Telling children to eat their green beans is usually followed by the question, why? It seems as if everything that you give instructions for to three-year-olds is followed by that question, why? Most of our answers are pretty easy but then there are some of those questions that we have to just say, "Because I say so."
Even as adults we have many questions. I’ve always wondered why Noah didn’t swap those two mosquitoes when they boarded the ark? There are many things in life that we have to ask the serious side of that question; why do bad things happen? When we see the injustice done to children it causes us to question why.
We are reminded often that God understands our grieves in our sorrows. Jesus is acquainted with our hardships and our losses. He understands when we are tempted and tested. I love the saying that is attributed to Chuck Norris:
We never know what the day will bring but we can know the one who brings the day.
Life takes many turns and can come up short of our expectations. We grow frustrated easily. I pastored for over 31 years and I know many of the sorrows the people face. I’ve been at the bedside of those who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. I have sat with parents grieving the loss of their child in a fatal accident. I had a few words in those times when I would hear the bad news and I didn’t quite know how to comfort family members. Not all of those trials were related to illness, often it was financial loss or the shock of divorce. Difficulties and trials come in many forms.
First Peter 5:7 tells us, "Cast all your cares on Him because he cares for you."
I don’t believe that God is ever concerned or bothered by our questions and especially when we question, why? We were made to ask questions so that we could discover and rediscover the meaning and purpose in life. Life is but a vapor, it is soon gone like the morning dew but what lasts are the things that are eternal. His Truth is forever.
To discover Truth we need to be people who learn how to trust. Trust is a relational quality that comes because we learn and we develop how to believe. This side of heaven I’ve discovered that I can trust those who were honest with me as well as those who do not lie to me. I can trust those who do not break their promises. I can trust those who do not talk about me behind my back or spread rumors about me. It takes a lifetime to build trust and it can be broken in mere moments.
I’m certain that there are times when someone put their faith and trust in me and my actions broke that trust. I know that even when I try, I can fail. There’s no excuse for it but, in reality, people can hurt us whether it’s intentional or not. Yet we are encouraged to build relationships and take the risk of loving others even though we could be hurt.
There is a quality of love that God, our Father provides. Even though our earthly parents can disappoint and our friends can hurt us, there is a quality of love that God can provide. We’ve all been there when someone has let us down. We also know of times when we are lifted up. That’s good news and it brings hope to every part of our lives here on earth. To be forgiven and to have the ability to forgive others is a tremendous gift that God gives us, through his grace.
I don’t mean to minimize the deep feelings that come with disappointing experiences. I believe that there are valid hurts and difficult, even painful times in our lives. I can recall deep wounds that caused me great pain that I carried with me for years. It was hard to explain why I felt the way I did and it was even harder to overcome these feelings of hurt and rejection. It’s easy for someone to say, "Just get over it." In reality, it’s far more complex. There are people who will go to counseling for many years trying to unravel this mystery of grace and forgiveness. I know for me, it was not easy.
Just like when our children or grandkids ask why, our Heavenly Father loves to hear from us as well. We love that they are exploring and searching, these are good actions. Our heavenly father knows that we don’t have His perspective. So, continue to ask and continue to seek because He rewards our persistence. We need not fear and we should continue to hope.
This side of heaven we may never know fully the explanations to all of our questions. How can we? So because of our limited perspective, let’s hold onto the hope we find in His promises and through His word. We continue to ask and we continue to search because in that we will find meaning to life.
The scripture does say, "And we know all things work together for good to them that are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
