When my oldest child reached the magical age of two, I heard myself saying one of those things I had vowed I would never say: “Because I said so.” It wouldn’t be the last time.
On any given day, a well loved child can ask more questions than most reasonably patient parents can answer. Of course there are times when “Why?” arises out of a need to try to understand. However, sometimes the questions aren’t driven by genuine curiosity, they become a tool to maneuver said parent into doing what the child wants. Thus the age-old answer, “Because I said so.”
It isn’t just toddlers or teenagers who want all the reasons for what is happening to them, we adults often find ourselves in a place where we are crying out to God, “Why?”
“Why:
did we get this terrible diagnosis
did I lose my job
didn’t the deal go through on the house we so desperately wanted
did my friend betray me
didn’t you answer my prayer
The list is endless because none of us goes through life without experiencing suffering in one way or another. When we can’t make sense of our lives, we long for answers. Perhaps we hope if we can understand the reason everything will somehow turn out alright. If we can get God to explain why, then maybe He’ll do what we think He should do to fix things.
While God doesn’t say, “Because I said so,” He often doesn’t explain why. Just as a parent knows and understands things their child cannot see, God’s sees and knows more than we could ever imagine. An explanation is not nearly as important as the things God is working out for us in and through our circumstances.
When we want our children to simply believe that what we’re doing comes from a heart of love (whether they understand it or not), so our Heavenly Father longs for us to trust Him and to believe He will do what is best for us.
“Whenever a storm hits, always begin with the question, “What?” instead of, “Why?” (Pastor Doug) It takes faith to believe that in the midst of our difficulties God is doing something good. Scripture is filled with stories of the way God turned suffering into blessing. We’re encouraged by them and those of people we know who have gone through great trials and found not only that God is faithful but that He did a miraculous work in our hearts.
God doesn’t get angry when we come to Him with our questions, but it blesses His heart when we leave them with Him and trust that He will do all He has promised.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8,9
Blessings,
Linda
