Asking God Why

About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

Matthew 27:46

When we suffer, I think it’s human nature to want to ask why? Why me? Why now? Why didn’t God prevent this from happening? But sometimes I hear people say, “I know I’m not supposed to ask ‘why,’ but...” Who told you that? Who told you that you aren’t supposed to ask ‘why?’ In the book of Psalms alone the various psalmists ask God ‘why’ nearly twenty times! And more to the point, Jesus Himself put this question to God the Father in the midst of His own suffering. 

I think that  means that it's okay for you to ask God ‘why.’ But understand that you may not get an answer right away. There's no record of the Father answering Jesus in that moment on the cross.

In the same way, when you face suffering and cry out to God to ask ‘why?’ ... understand that it may be weeks, months, or even years before God’s purposes are made plain to you. In fact, God may not tell you why on this side of Heaven at all. You may have to wait for eternity to fully understand God’s purposes for your pain.

But look at Jesus’ cry here in Matthew 27:46. He cries out to God wanting to know why… and yet, even as He asks the question, Jesus reaffirms His relationship and His trust in the Father. He cries out, “My God, my God.” Jesus isn’t crying out to some far off God that He doesn’t recognize or believe in. He is crying out to His own God. The God He knows and trusts. Even in His suffering… even when He asked why… even when He felt forsaken… He trusted His heavenly Father. And that’s what you should do as well.

Are you willing to trust God in your suffering? It’s okay if you feel the need to ask why, but you need to understand that the answer may be slow in coming… and it may not come this side of Heaven at all. And if you’re going to follow Jesus’ example, then you’ll keep on trusting God anyway… even though it costs your very life.

For Those Who Have Been Trained by It

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:11

Discipline. Chances are that when you read that word you think of spankings or timeouts, depending on how your parents punished you. But discipline isn't always about punishment. Self-discipline, for example, is about forcing yourself to do things that you would rather not do in order to better yourself. Sometimes our parents discipline us in this way as well. They ask us to do things that are meant to test and strengthen us. A father might teach his daughters a strong work ethic by asking them to do hard work. He isn't punishing them for doing something wrong, he is disciplining and training his daughters up to become a certain type of women. The hard work shapes their character.

This is the type of discipline presented in today's verse. It refers to trials that God sends into our lives in order to test, strengthen and shape us into the people He wants us to become. Building character like this is never fun, but it produces the right result for those who are trained by it. The result isn't automatic. You have to be trainable. In the original language the word for trainable is gymnazo. Not hard to figure out that it is connected with the idea of the gymnasium and exercise. The idea is that the person who is willing to endure the trial, who doesn't give up or refuse to submit to the training will benefit from it. These trials seem painful at the time but they produce the right result if we will be trained by them. Most of the time when I am really struggling I sense an emphatic lack of peace and yet this passage says that peace and righteousness are the end result of those who are trained by God's discipline. It makes us stronger, better able to hold onto our peace in the midst of a storm. And it produces the right character in us, i.e. righteousness. 

When we face a difficult trial it is normal and even appropriate for us to ask why. Why has this come into my life? Have I sinned? Do I need to repent or is this just something that in God's wisdom He has chosen to allow in my life? But too often we stall out at the why questions because we can't always answer them. So in the midst of whatever difficult trial you are facing right now don't just ask why. Ask, what am I supposed to learn from this? How can I be trained by it? How can this make me a better person? How can it shape me into the type of person who trusts God more, who has walked through the fire with Him and has learned more about His character? Remember, God always disciplines his children in order to draw us nearer to Him.