It seems more commonplace to hear the impassioned question “Why God?!” than to hear the more intellectual inquiry “Why God?” The former, typically, comes with crying out over hearing of some horrendously evil act in the world or a natural disaster or a friend’s life-threatening illness or a family member’s untimely death or some other form of suffering; whereas the latter, usually, comes from just wanting to gain understanding. On a personal level, I’ve been hearing quite a bit of the former lately and that’s caused me to consider the appropriateness of asking God either form of this question.
I have to admit that, when I consider asking God, The Creator of all, any question, my instincts tell me that doing so would be impertinent and my first thought is, “Who do you think you are?!” Next, I think, “Even if it is OK for me to ask God ‘Why?’, what makes me think He owes me any explanation.” But, when you rely on the natural to discern the supernatural, you’re likely to miss the mark. A devotional I came across, by Pastor Greg Laurie, also entitled “Why God?”, has helped me to recognize that my instincts have been off target with this. Pastor Greg says,
“I don’t think it is ever a bad thing to ask God why. Some people will say that we should never question God. But I question God all the time. I don’t mean that I doubt His existence. But I do say, ‘Lord, I don’t understand why you have done (thus and so). . . . Why, Lord?’
As you read the psalms, you see that many times the psalmist cried out, in essence, ‘Why, God? Why have You allowed this in my life?’
And Jesus Himself asked, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ (Matthew 27:45–47).
So don’t think it is wrong to ask, ‘Why, God?’ It isn’t wrong. But let me add this: don’t expect an answer, necessarily. You can ask all you want. And maybe the Lord will give you an answer. But in most cases, He won’t. Quite frankly, I think that if He did, we wouldn’t understand it anyway.” Continue reading
