Why?

WHY?

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” - Matthew 27:46

I am not an expert in any subject. Admittedly, there are some subjects I know better than others, but not to the extent of being called an expert. As I often say, I know just enough to get me into trouble. I have begun many projects with a great plan --- and ended up with disaster instead. I have found new and creative ways to fail. Furthermore, there are so many subjects that I know nothing about at all. Sometimes I will tell people, “I can say, 'I don't know,' better than anyone.” I've had a lot of experience at this, too.

In life, there are many things that we don't know. In spite of our emphasis on education here in America, there are important problems we can't solve. Think about this. The common cold has been around for ages, but there is still no known cure for the cold. The best we can do is take certain medications to slow down the process and build up the immune system, but we've never come up with medication that stops a cold completely and prevents it from returning.

The most important aspects of life have a certain degree of mystery surrounding them. There are certain marvels of nature that fascinate us because of the uncertainty of them. The National Weather Service still cannot predict when and where a tornado may touch down. The best they can do is issue a tornado watch for a large region and then issue a tornado warning once the signature of a tornado seems to form on a radar or is reported to be already on the ground. Of course, we cannot prevent tornadoes. We never will.

The mysteries of life, like everything else, are in the hands of God. He is in control of them. Uncertainty is part of life. Unexpected events can unfold in a split second. The cause of these events are often as mysterious as the events themselves. When such events directly impact our lives, we are tempted to ask God, “Why did this occur?”

When we ask, “Why?” we are in good company. Jesus asked the same question in prayer to His Father from the cross. When we suffer, we tend to look for reasons for our suffering. It is true that sin has brought suffering and death upon all mankind. Yet there are times we suffer self-inflicted pain because of the consequences of our decisions. When we reap what we've sown, we can suffer greatly. At other times, God's chastening can bring pain. When a Christian sins, God may take that person “to the woodshed,” for correction. Thus, when we suffer, it is healthy to examine our lives and prayerfully determine whether we are suffering because of our own foolishness and failures.

Yet most of the suffering that we see in the lives of believers are not due to personal sin. Yes, the fall of Adam is the root cause, but many of our painful experiences are not due to our own mistakes and sins. In these moments, we are tempted to ask, “Why?”

It is deeply painful when a close loved one faces great pain or even death. When we look at society, it just doesn't seem fair that Christians suffer while wicked sinners have few problems at all.

Yet here is the truth. The specific reason that you or a loved one is suffering may be a mystery you will never solve. Deuteronomy 29:29 states, “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God.” The purpose behind our pain may remain obscure from us. We will never know the real reason for our pain until we get to glory.

From the cross Jesus asked the question, "why?" as He prayed to His Father. What prompted Him to ask this question?

On the cross, Jesus faced something that few of us understand. You see, He took our sins upon Himself. The Bible says, “The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.” Jesus had never sinned, yet the face of the Father turned against Him as Jesus bore our sins on the cross. This level of alienation from the Father was something Jesus had never encountered before. That is an aspect of the cross we don't normally consider.

Jesus died as a man so that grace could be extended to men. He suffered the consequences that we should have faced. He died so we may live. He suffered the loss of fellowship with the Father temporarily so that you and I may enjoy fellowship with Father eternally.

The best thing we can do with the mysteries of life is to leave them in the hands of our heavenly Father. We are limited in our understanding. We don't know the complex details of His will. Like Jesus, we can bring our questions and uncertainty to the Father and leave them with Him.

We can trust Him to know what He's doing, even when it is a mystery to us.