What, Not Why
Why is the sky blue?
Why do I have to take a nap?
Why do toots smell?
Why do I have to wear shoes?
The questions of a two year old go on forever. Eventually they slow down but the inquisitive nature never goes away. Even as adults we question why.
Why didn't I get the job?
Why didn't my marriage work?
Why cancer?
Why a car accident?
Why a fire?
I've asked why.
Why can't I get pregnant?
Why another move?
Why that broken friendship?
Why isn't there enough to pay the bills?
It's the age old question. When we experience tragedy, brokenness, loss, or lack we always ask why. Even unbelievers will pause in their unbelief to question their creator. We observe such queries in the Bible. Job asked why the suffering. Moses asked why God stuck him with such a stubborn people. Those stubborn people asked why there wasn't food. Habakkuk asked why the discipline. The disciples asked why His death.
God answers the question best in Job by asking His own series of questions. The last five chapters of Job can be summed up in one thought, "how can the creation challenge the Creator?"
Why?
Because He is God.
Not because He is an unkind God, seeking to punish His creation. It is in fact because of His loving character that we are spared. We live in a world cursed by sin. Sin brings death. And part of that death is tragedy, loss and brokenness. These things do not have to overcome us if before we ask why, we ask what. What do I believe about God? What is His character? I like how Pastor Jon Courson puts it, "God doesn't come with an answer, but as the Answer."
He is all knowing. All present. All powerful. The Creator. Sovereign King. Prince of Peace. Victorious Warrior. Provider. Healer. Messiah. Savior. The definition of mercy, grace and loving kindness. The Beginning and the End. Righteous. Holy. If you ask Him who He is, His answer will be, "I Am."
This is the unchanging truth. We can not and will not fully ever understand Him. We may not understand the events of our life. Full comprehension would diminish the Majesty of who He is.
"If God was small enough to figure out,
He wouldn't be big enough for me to worship."
~J.B. Phillips
If you accept the truth that He is the Answer, you can with peace that passes understanding, stand firm through any trial. So That God gets the glory!
"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts," says the Lord.
Isaiah 55:8-9
** Know my heart....I believe this truth with all that is in me. But I have wrestled with trusting it in different seasons of my life. I've gone through enough change to last several lifetimes, lost friends to cancer, car accidents and dealt with shameful, broken areas of my life. This last week my family lost everything in the California fires. It is with a serious, heavy heart that I write these words and recorded these videos. I have debated even posting for fear that I would come across hollow and flippant in the face of tragedy. My prayer is to not only encourage but perhaps most importantly point people to Jesus, because they are searching for the answer. Know that you are loved and prayed over.
~Kelly
