Asking Why

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I'm the webmaster of my church website and we have many unique thing on the site and one of them is what we call "The Weekly Word". This is a weekly article that is written by one of our staff of volunteer writers. What I'd like to do here is share their weekly voices. I think you might find them very good and interesting writers. Enjoy! Asking Why...(Weekly Word September 11th, 2009 Issue #122) Asking why a terrible thing happened is one aspect of a biblical lament. The Bible encourages to grapple with this question by giving examples of great biblical characters who did this, like Job, Jeremiah and the Psalmists. Job struggled a long time to make sense of what was happening around him. Usually at the end of a time of grappling, God's people affirm that because God is sovereign and knows what is happening, the wisest thing is to keep trusting Him. We see this often in the Psalms. Believing in God's sovereignty at a time of tragedy helps us to avoid hopelessness amid the struggle. We must rely on God's promise that even out of terrible tragedy He will bring something good to those who love Him. (See Romans 8:28) This perspective of God's sovereignty may not come right away. Sometimes it's necessary for us to wrestle with God over this. Prayer and meditation on His word really help at such times. (See Psalm 27). We may be busy recovering from the disaster or serving those who have been adversely affected by it. But we must find time to spend with God and His word. This is why people must always continue worshiping Him in community, regardless of how serious the situation may be. When we worship together, we focus on those eternal realities that remind us of God's sovereignty. The exposure to these truths help drive away the gloom that engulfs us and gives us the strength to trust God to look after us. Having been comforted by God and His word, we then have the strength to launch into sacrificially serving others who are suffering. The answer to our questions lie within Him. We must seek His truth, His way and follow the path of Christ and God in order to succeed as Christians. Asking why and listening for His answer is a vital step in that direction.