Dear God, Why?

     People always say to look at the glass half full rather than half empty. They encourage you to find the positive in a negative situation or they throw at you whatever other cliché they can think up. Most of the time, I feel like this is a fairly easy concept to put into practice. In most situations that seem negative on the surface, one can usually find a silver lining. However, this is certainly not the case on every occasion. There are always instances wherein we find it impossible to see any silver lining. We feel that there is none; it’s just a bad situation. There is no understanding why it has occurred or what good could possibly come from it. So where do we then go for hope? Who can possibly guide and comfort us in such hopeless situations?

Our heavenly Father.

The hope that you can find in God is different than any you may find in a friend, or any other person for that matter. People will give you hope by trying to explain away any situation with a list of ‘maybe’s. They will encourage you to try and understand “why” and help you to see the glass half full, but sometimes there is no “why.” We can’t always find a good answer, and that is where God comes in. God’s comfort and hope is completely different than any that you will find in an explanation.

God is not going to sit you down and say, “This is why what you’re experiencing has happened and here is how it will benefit you.” He will not give you a map, a cheat sheet, the inside scoop, or the reasoning behind His plan. I don’t think that is how God works. This isn’t to say that God doesn’t want us to understand (I don’t believe that God is against us knowing His plan) but I don’t believe it’s necessary for us to know, nor is it probable for us to know; we don’t see the big picture.

God doesn’t ask us to decipher why He does what He does. He doesn’t promise that we will understand each fork in the road or each tribulation we face. So what does God do and what hope does he provide for us? He does promise in Romans 8:28 that all things work to good for those who love Him. He promises to be faithful and that His lovingkindness will never be removed from us. He tells us in Romans 5:3-5, to rejoice in our tribulations so that we may achieve hope. God understands the reasoning. God knows the timing. Our job is to wait on Him and trust in Him. “Wait upon the Lord. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait upon the Lord,” Psalm 27:14.

You don’t always have to understand His ways; you just have to trust them.

When you do come to trust His timing and His ways, you will have all the comfort that you need. What greater comfort can you find than in knowing that your Savior has a plan for you? “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future,” Jeremiah 29:11. He has a plan, and He knows what steps to take to accomplish it.

God comforts you not in saying, “This is why,” but rather in saying, “I’ve got this. Just trust me.”