Faith Through the Journey

Bad things happen to bad people, right? That’s what our human nature and innate sense of fairness tells us about the way life should be, at least in our very limited scope of perception. But what about when things go wrong and there’s no one to blame, no GOOD reason why that should happen? We have trouble wrapping our minds around that inconvenient truth.

There’s no good explanation for why I should have had Crohn’s Disease for 44 years. Even though I have enjoyed times of remission and respite, I’ve had six major surgeries, countless medications, hospitalizations, complications, etc. And then last year cancer entered my life. I wasn’t indulging in a dangerous lifestyle, living recklessly or trying to deliberately disobey God. Is there a good answer to this question?

To be sure, there are many instances where bad behavior brings bad consequences. Driving 100 mph while intoxicated does NOT produce a good outcome, nor does indulging in gluttony or dangerous drugs. But what if you’re not doing this, and things still go wrong?

Recently in my Bible reading I came upon a verse that leapt off the page at me. In John 9, Jesus and his disciples came upon a blind man, and the disciples asked Jesus if the man’s or his parents’ sin that had caused his blindness. Jesus said to them “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There’s no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do.” Whoa. So…maybe asking “Why?” isn’t always the correct question when it comes to figuring out the reason for life happening the way it does. Perhaps there’s something more to consider.

If you’ve ever dealt with a 3-year-old, you know that the most dominant word in their vocabulary is “Why?” As a parent/grandparent/teacher you patiently try to give them answers that will satisfy, only to be met with yet more “Why?” responses! When you finally run of answers and realize that they really don’t WANT to know “Why?”, the standard go-to answer then becomes “Because I said so!” Even the smartest human being can’t compare to God in intelligence or understanding, nor can we see all that He sees. Wrestling with understanding God’s ways and purposes is often misdirected effort on our part. Choosing instead to look for what God can and wants to do is a better choice, for when we are focused on HIM and not our circumstances, we gain hope instead of frustration. We open ourselves to what HE is going for in our lives.  We allow the challenging situations to become opportunities to see what God wants to do instead of being mired in self-pity and the “why me?” pit of despair. Asking a loving God what He is going for in our lives will yield a fruitful response, for He doesn’t play hide and seek. He states plainly in Jeremiah 29:13: “You will seek Me and find Me, if you seek Me with all your heart.” We just have to ask the right question!