When It Seems Like God Does Not Make Sense
Recently, I experienced a ‘tragedy’ that drilled into my soul to the inner core. If I am honest, it knocked me and probably the rest of my family for six; appeared to send us into dizzy spells.
We knew God’s kindness and love still was apparent and His hand was mighty upon us inspite of this unreasonable tornado. Nevertheless, though the pain was anaethesised somewhat by that comfort of our faith in God, we were still deeply shaken.
Scriptures tell us to sorrow not, not to grieve as the unbelievers and so on, yet in the back of our sanctified minds as Christians, often is that numbing question of WHY! Some of us may not be bold as to utter those three letter word, but nevertheless the question keeps resounding in our minds. WHY is it that sometimes God does not make sense at all?
How do explain to a little girl whose father has died that God is working all things for her good?
How do you count it all joy when rape, abuse, murder, death and other tragedies happen to Christians, committed Christians even, that love and serve God with every fibre of their being?
How does God make sense when you are the pastor of a vibrant church saving other kids but your own kid is on drugs? When as a mininster of God, you are joining people in holy matrimony when your own marriage is crumbling at the edges? When as Christians, you pray for the sick and they recover, yet your wife lies sick ‘bad’?
If we try to push all these things under the proverbial carpet and carry on with life like these things don’t happen to Christians, then we only have a fantasy church that believes a fantasy Gospel.
Studying the Bible, the famous hall of faith fame in Hebrews 11, (that we love so much) paints a mosiac of victories over pain and, yes, the ‘s’ word, Suffering. None of Jesus disciples entered their grave in very old age, just lying down and dying in beloved sleep. Many met gruesome deaths.
Now that is not to say that the Christian life is not of abundance, and abundance to the full as promised to us. And that I believe and testify. Oh yes. God has been good, so very good to me! I have testimonies abounding in my life.
But just like all sunshine and no rain makes a desert, going through our Christian life oblivious to sufferings of others, or ‘pretending’ we have the lid on our own suffering when we need help, can leave many people eventually becoming disillusioned, disenchanted or even bitter due to unprocessed feelings.
When God seems distant, we may feel
##1 Angry
Anger may be the initial reaction when tragedy strikes, even anger towards God. When this anger lingers it can turn to bitterness and some Christians find themselves backsliding.
A friend was recounting recently about a lady she met who even went as far as saying she ‘hated’ God for taking away her son. Very strong words, to the point of blasphemy probably. There was a lot of venomous anger in her that would need the God she resented to heal her!
##2 Frustrated
Frustration can come in when we feel that God did not rescue us or our loved one from the peril and danger that came our/their way.
WHY did God allow Satan’s work to prevail? Did we not pray? We feel frustrated when we can’t understand when certain inexplicable things happen that seem contrary to what we have been taught or what we believe. When things just don’t seem to add up.
##3 Abandoned/Rejected
Jesus on the Cross asked the Father why He, God, had forsaken Him, the Son? Jesus could ask the question in his moments of greatest grief. (Remember at the Cross he bore our griefs).
Sometimes we may find ourselves echoing these very words. We feel abandoned, isolated by a loving Father who said (…no…He ‘promised’), that He would never leave us nor forsake us. When tragedy strikes unexpectedly especially, we may feel vulnerable.
##4 Exposed
There we were, Right Reverend Bishop, one moment preaching to the masses, only to be ‘cut down to size’ the next minute by news of which the paparazzi are now making a field day. We struggle to give thanks in all things. Our spirit spurs us to, but her emotions are constrained. Can we still trust God when the tragedy seems so inconsistent with God’s loving nature?
##5 Confused
Have we offended God? Was God warning us and we missed the signs? What part of the script did it say that this would happen? Was the lady not coming from a prayer meeting when she was murdered?
##6 Let down
I guess even if we don’t feel any of the above, a lot of us may feel let down by God. We dare not voice it but the thought may cross our minds. How can God reward us this way? Surely, God is a kind and compassionate God? WHY did He allow this suffering if He really loved us as much as He says He does? Did not the whole church pray with gruelling fasting?
Why it is we ask WHY
God does not make sense sometimes because we are often people of reason. Eve reasoned in the Garden of Eden. Yes, satan gave her a reasonable explanation…an explanation that had not been forthcoming from God as to WHY they were not to eat the forbidden fruit.
When we understand the WHY, our pain often becomes easier. It is easier to stand our ground in something and even die for it when we know WHY. It is easy to understand WHY Jesus did not heal Lazarus only after the event…because there was a greater glory in raising a man who had been dead for 4 days than one that was desperately sick.
But when we don’t have a clear answer?
There are times when the answers to the WHY are not so clear cut. I read a story of a committed Christian lady and her husband who lost all their kids. ALL spelt A-L-L! Now that is a tall order. Many years on, there is no ‘reasonable’ explanation as to WHY God did not intervene and save her family. How could a loving God allow such pain? (This couple are still committed to their God. Praise God!).
There are some answers or some things we will never know this side of heaven. We cannot look or search for answers in those cases. If we do, we run the risk of more unbearable pain.
Friends, the Job kind of friends, may try to explain WHY this has happened. Let us not be the friends that play God explaining the mind of God when God has not spoken on an issue especially a painful one.
Was it because of sin? Was it disobedience? These are questions that we may ask or Satan may even bring into our minds to torture us. This may just lead to more questions. Before you know it, you are in a tangled maze you can’t get out off.
God never wastes a hurt
God is omniscient. He knows everything even when He does not appear to make sense. Can we ask WHY when we do not own our lives? After all Jesus did say in the small print that we would have tribulations but we were to be of good cheer. So, in essence, part of the WHY has already been answered.
The fact we are surprised when tragedy strikes does not mean God is. Neither does it mean that an omnipotent God has suddenly been robbed of His power. Or that He is confused, pacing heaven’s floor wondering what to do!
Last time on Women Empowering Women magazine (Autumn 2015 edition), I dramatised the story of Naomi in the form of a letter between two friends. It is ironic that the article brought me great comfort when ‘tragedy’ struck recently. I read it several times. God being the Alpha and Omega knew what lay ahead of me, and He wrote me that letter to comfort me.
I hope if you are reading this, that article brings you great comfort too. You see, many times we read the story of Ruth from the standpoint of the Moabitess lady, Ruth. What God showed me in the story of Ruth was also the often untold powerful story of Naomi. Her side of excruciating pain and immense loss that she had to endure. Wearing Naomi’s shoes, anyone can see that she suffered.
In her story, we can theorise that Naomi’s husband had lacked faith or even committed sin when he went to live in a foreign land. Some may say that Naomi’s sons had no business marrying foreign ladies. But neither did Samson marrying a Philistine, yet God was behind his first marriage to a Philistine lady and even hid that fact from his parents!
I firmly believe that yes, we have the mind of God, and therefore the ways of God should not be strange to us.
However our finite minds can never grasp God in His entirety even if we lived a 1000 years. We have eternity for that project. So to help us understand the WHY, sometimes we just have to be still and allow God to do His thing!
To let go and let God. It can be a gradual process but one has to take one day at a time. And allow our emotions to be fully processed once and for all!
God turned Naomi’s hurt into gain. He did not waste her hurt. He put a smile on her face. Yes, Naomi would never forget her husband and sons, but God gave her something to shout about.
So when the WHY questions come against us like sharp darts on a board, let us remember that God has the full story and we only have the chapters. That in those crushing moments, all we can say is ‘God, I know you love me!’. Then put our trust in Him.
Only then can the WHY make some sense.
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