Do You Wonder Why
Do You Wonder Why?
Recently, I spent the day with my four-year-old granddaughter, Abigail. We had a great day and a ton of fun. We had our nails done while sitting in massage chairs, shopped until we dropped and had ice cream with sprinkles on top. There were so many special moments throughout the day that I will cherish. We also had a lot of conversation! I mean, this girl can talk. She fills the silence. She not only talked to me, but felt free to engage in conversation with those around us. She introduced herself and began asking questions. I could not help but notice that she repeatedly asked “Why?”. No matter what the conversation was about, she wanted to know, “Why?”. So, that got me to thinking. Do you wonder why? Do you find yourself questioning God and asking Him, “Why?” I do.
“A true believer will crucify or put to death the question, ‘Why?’. He will simply obey without questioning.”
Why? Why can’t we ask, “Why?”? (There I go again – wanting to know why.) I wonder why God is prompting me to do certain things, why these are my circumstances, and why I must endure my pain. Why can’t I just… Why is this happening? Why can’t I get an answer? It sounds like I have whyitis. How about you? Do you wonder why?
There are many stories in the Bible that leave me with questions. However, the one that would have had me screaming “WHY?” at the top of my lungs is the story of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac. Genesis 22 is one of the most shocking and memorable texts in the Bible. Yet, it clearly describes the loyalty of the Lord and reveals the remarkable faith of His servants.
Remarkable faith… Do we have remarkable faith? Why? Hmmm…. Instead of asking God “Why?”, maybe we should ask ourselves, “Why?”
In verse 1 God calls out to Abraham. Abraham replies, “Here I am.” Is that how we answer God? Do we live like we are called to live? Do we serve like we are supposed to serve? Do we love like God loves? Do we offer grace and forgiveness easily? Do we accept others? Do we share Jesus? Why? Why don’t we reply, “Here I am.”? Why don’t we pray the one word prayer, “Yes!”?
In verse 2 God tells Abraham to take his son and offer him as a burnt offering. Verse 3 says, “So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.” There is no mention of the word, “why”. There is only Abraham walking in obedience to God. His faith was strong. He trusted God enough to not question, but to do as He was asked. Why don’t we have faith like that? Why don’t we trust like that? Why don’t we do as God asks?
We know how this story ends. Abraham is found faithful and God makes a promise to Him. One that He will keep. So, let me ask you, “Why?” Why don’t we know how every story will end? Every story – our story – will end with God always being trustworthy and loyal to us. When we find ourselves in hard situations, He will be there. He will see us through and use them for our good – to grow us closer to Him, to transform us into who He created us to be. No need to ask God why - we can simply choose to trust Him. We can obey Him with no more questioning. We can simply reply, “Here I am.”
Even when we don’t understand – we can trust!
A Note from Pam:
Hi! I hope you are having a great week! Let's trust! You want to? I sure do! Let's intentionally trust God with all our stuff, with everything happening in our lives, with every situation we are walking through, with every problem and struggle, with all our hopes and dreams. Let's surrender our lives and start living the life He is calling us to live. Let's hold hands and do this together!