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Why?

David Graves

I was sitting in a Bible study group across from a lady close to my age. Her father had recently passed away at age 91. I knew her father. He had attended high school and Bible school with my father in Russia.

My mind went back to their circumstances. My father died at age 26, a few months before I was born. He never saw me. He was recruited by the White Army as a hospital orderly in Moscow, together with his friend, this lady’s father. While they were serving in the hospital together, my father got typhus from the soldiers he cared for. He prayed earnestly that God would let him go home to see his wife once before he died, but it was not granted. The friend was able to return home. This lady had her father for many years, and I have never known an earthly father. The two men had grown up together. One lived to a ripe old age, and my dad died young. Why?

I don’t think people ask any question as often as that mysterious question, “Why?” Even little children ask, “Why not?” and “Why me?” Probably Adam and Eve asked this question when their firstborn Cain murdered his brother Abel. Joseph most likely asked that same question when his brothers sold him into slavery, and later when he was falsely accused and imprisoned.

It is quite normal and legitimate when facing painful experiences and uncertainty to ask, “Why?” Jesus on the cross asked, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). The Psalmist asked in Psalm 10:1, “Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?” and in Psalm 43:2, “Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” Many of our forefathers suffered terribly under communism in Russia. Like Jeremiah the prophet, they could have asked, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” (Jeremiah 12:1).

We see suffering all around us and we ask, “Why?” Why are there earthquakes, starvation and incurable diseases? Why are innocent people murdered? Why do we have kidnappings and bombings? Why are there tornadoes and cyclones? Some of us might be asking that mysterious “Why?” because we are carrying heavy burdens. We may be struggling with illness, divorce or a host of crushing trials. Some of us think we have done all we could to have our children come to the Lord, but there has been no response, and we ask, “Why?”

This was exactly Charles Templeton’s problem. He couldn’t understand why a loving God would let little children die of disease and hunger, as he had seen on the streets of Calcutta. So he lost his faith and went so far as to write the book Farewell to God.

Some people become bitter against God, wondering why He has allowed certain things to happen. Let’s not get bitter and resentful against God. Everything has a purpose. God makes no mistakes. My grandfather always said, “Here on earth we say, ‘Why, Lord?’ but when we are in heaven the Lord will say, ‘That’s why.’” I don’t know why my dad died so young, but I know I will meet him in heaven and we won’t need introduction.

In the book of Job, we see that sometimes Satan is behind suffering and that innocent and righteous people suffer. Job was such a man. He was faithful, good and careful not to do anything evil (Job 1:8). Yet Job suffered enormously. He lost his possessions, his children, his health and even the help and trust of his friends. Job lost everything but his faith in God. In the depths of his suffering, he declared, “I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end He will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25) and “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him” (Job 13:15). He trusted God even though he had no answer to the “Why?” in his life.

Christ Jesus never sinned, and He never deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when He was insulted. When He suffered, He did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. We should do just that – go into our prayer closet alone and there pour out our heart to Jesus. Tell Him everything. He has promised to help carry our burden so that we are able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13). In Luke 22:31-32, the Lord said to Simon, “Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.” As He did with Simon, Jesus prays for us that our faith will not falter. He is our advocate and intercessor. Wonderful things can occur in our lives when we yield completely to Him and let Him take care of all the “Whys” that puzzle us. If we do this, we will save ourselves many tears and much heartache.

If our lives are shattered and our dreams are broken, Jesus invites us to turn the pieces over to Him. He will remake us and give us new opportunities for growth and service. With the Lord’s help, our lives can be more beautiful, meaningful and fulfilling than before – just as Job’s was.

I think we are going to look back on our brief life and the light afflictions which were but for a moment (2 Corinthians 4:17) and thank God for every problem, every disappointment, every faithless friend, every heartache and every false accusation that has ever been made against us – including all the “Whys” we couldn’t quite understand while here on earth. We are being trained and disciplined in order that we might have a place in glory. Then at last all our “Whys” will be answered. Until then, let’s hold on to Jesus.

David Graves lives in Randolph, Man. and is a member of Steinbach MB Church.

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Last modified November 30, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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