August 25, 2009
Why?
I think it’s safe to say that at one time or another we’ve all asked God, ‘Why?’ Some people have countered this question with, ‘Why not?’ which I’ve always thought that was a good response. Recently however I read an even better response. The ‘Why?’ was turned into ‘What for?’ I think God might be pleased if we asked Him ‘What for?’ when we are in the midst of a crisis.
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Gail;
-----In my attempt to learn Spanish, I decided to scrape together a knowledge of that language’s adverbs. I came across “what” first: que. But when I went to find its word for “why”, I didn’t find one. I found two words: por que, that is, “for what“. It made sense to me. “For what” is very much the same as “why”.
-----Man has his purposes for doing the things he does, both individually and as groups and nations. He has situations about which he forms ideas of propriety and impropriety, achievement and failure, security and vulnerability, etc. According to these ideas he chooses goals and formulates plans that guide his efforts to make from his surroundings what he thinks he needs. But man is temporally and spatially very confined to extremely limited situations and circumstances. God is not.
-----God is much the same as man, since man was made in His image. God also has ideas about the situations around Him, and goals, plans, and efforts, too. But God is not limited to such confined situations as is man. His situations extend throughout history, past, present, and future, the history of man as well as of heaven. Nor are they confined to a small place on Earth. They extent throughout the universe and all spiritual existence. He sees and knows the whole of all situation, of which each one of us are a part, at least in a small way. So the things we ask, “Why?” about have a definite answer He could give.
-----When Eve bit into that forbidden fruit, man died. Not physically, of course, at least not immediately. But our presence with Him was eliminated, and with it the giving of His answer. Jesus Christ returned to us some of the presence, but we Christians forget to understand it was not a complete return. The Holy Spirit in us is only a down payment. When we are taken into His complete presence, we will realize what a small down payment it was. So it follows that man’s goals and plans are not always the same as God’s. Since man plans mostly outside His presence, mostly without the overall, detailed perspective He has, man can only lay his goals generally similar to God’s, if he even desires to do so.
-----So when situations turn up different than we expected, even disastrous, we ask why and rue that we do not receive a detailed answer. But from the lingering effects of the spiritual death man suffered, from the extremely limited contact with the presence of God we have, we can only know for what in general: His plans are often different and will prevail. But His plans, generally speaking, are for all things to work for the good of those who love Him and for the glory of Him whom they love. Even if a situation turns up bad, very bad, it still works for their good and for His glory. It may hurt when your quarterback gets badly sacked in the fourth game of the season, then throws a stupid interception returned for a touchdown and causes a loss to the team’s top divisional rival. It may seem humiliating when the team must enter the playoffs as a bottom seeded wildcard, eke out only marginal victories into the Superbowl, then only avoid falling far behind throughout that game. But the last minute touchdown there that wins the Lombardi trophy, although still seemingly unrelated to the sack and the interception, becomes a clearly recognized “for what”. Jesus has that touchdown in His playbook. We must resign to our ability to know only a very, very small part of the entire situation God knows in total fullness. And the what of all situations is for our trust in Him, and for His trustworthiness.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
In The Healing Journey Class, this is described as the difference between the 'dirt perspective' and the 'peak perspective'. If I stand on the little pile of dirt in my backyard, I can't see very far compared to standing on top of Pike's Peak.
Likewise, in the situations of my life, I can only see them from my dirt perspective, whereas God sees them from the Peak Perspective. He says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:5-6, I think...)
I have come to understand that even if He did try to explain to me all the why's and what-for's, I'm not humanly capable of understanding all of His thoughts and ways. I must walk in faith.
However, there was a time in my past when I was begging for an answer to my 'why?" -- and He answered me. He does hear our pleas, and will respond to our cries as He sees fit 'for our good'.
But whether I receive an answer or am left to wonder, He is still good, and I can trust His goodness--even when I can't see anything more than the dirt under my feet.
For Him,
Arlene
Arlene;
-----Even if God took us to Pikes Peak with Him, our eyes would only be capable of seeing the large generalities of what lay in the distance. We certainly could not see all the fine detail of everything like we can see the bugs, the blades of grass, and the scattered toys from the dirt pile in our back yards. My interest in knowing the “why” about events and circumstances is so that I can best arrange the stuff in my backyard to be better useful to God. It is a decision thing more than an emotional thing.
-----I commuted to work for a year on my motorcycle thinking God would help me avoid the multitudes of hazards that can throw a biker down. Then I slammed a deer. I should have been badly injured, but I walked away from it, admittedly, very, very gingerly. I haven’t put my bike back together yet, making the excuse that I haven’t had the time.
-----But I think the reality of the matter is, I can’t figure out what God’s perspective was, and is. He protected me from serious injury, but not from plowing the deer. Obviously I was wrong in assuming He would guide me around the obstacles, but I was not wrong in assuming He would keep me from harm. This sticks in me as a storm. I enjoy my bike and it saves a lot of expensive gasoline, but my favorite saying about biking is, “The only way you can take the risk out of riding a bike is to not get on it.”
-----So this is one of those “why’s” that is kind of important to me. I can see two possible reasons: 1) don’t get on your bike again because the next object in your way could be steel and moving twice as fast as the deer, or 2) get on your bike but never again let your guard down like you did.
-----You indicate a strong sureness that God gave you a definite answer to a why you asked. To this point, I have always settled for general indications from Him. I must admit, my spiritual radar may need finer tuning. What was it about the answer He gave you, or the way He gave it to you that settled your thinking upon it?
Love you,
Steve Corey
Steve,
I have noticed that in Scripture, some people would question God and get disciplined/chastened/punished for doing so; others would question and get answers. From my 'feelings' perspective, God was just randomly throwing out answers or discipline, whatever suited His fancy at the time. My 'knowledge' perspective tells me He could see things I can't concerning each person (such as thoughts and motives), and He knew best what was needed in each case.
As I said before, sometimes I've asked 'why' and never got an answer. In this particular case where I did receive an answer, I humbly and gratefully see it as God's mercy and love reaching down to comfort His hurting daughter. He knew my needs, and I guess in this case my need was for an answer. In other cases, maybe my need is to continue walking in faith without an answer...
My question that God answered was definitely an emotional 'why'. It was almost 14 years ago, and our sixth child (second son) had just been stillborn. (A few years earlier our first son had died when he was 2 weeks old.) My heart was broken, and I felt that God had abandoned me. In my grief, it seemed that my prayers would always go to the same question: "Why, God? Why did you take my son? Please help me to understand." One day a few months after his death, as I was reading my Bible and praying, I 'heard' God's answer. This was His voice in my heart/mind, and a "sureness" in my spirit. It's hard to explain without sounding crazy, and I suppose there are some people who would say it was my imagination. Whatever. I'm choosing to trust these were His words. He said, "I had need of him." Now that didn't really make sense to me. Whatever could God have need of my baby for?! But it was enough. Those words were a balm to my pain. Even though I really didn't know much more than I had before, it was as if God had given me a glimpse into His perspective that I hadn't been able to see earlier. His words helped move me out of the place of grief where I seemed to have gotten stuck, and began to bring healing, not because of anything I had done, but because He is love and mercy.
I can understand your questions concerning the accident on your bike, and about riding again. I won't presume to give you any answers - not that I have any!
Personally, I find it frustrating and kind of scary to not have answers to questions like that. I think it's because, in my pride, I think I need the answers so I can know what to do about tomorrow (maybe an arranging-the-details-in- my-backyard kind of thing?). But by not knowing, I can do nothing but humbly rely on what I know at this moment. It's like walking in the dark, but knowing the One walking beside me is Light, and sees clearly. It's not a comfortable place, and I don't usually like it very well! But it sure is good for me...!
May God give you the perspective and the answers you need...
For Him,
Arlene
Arlene;
-----Thank you. You matched your thoughts to Scripture and accepted it. Of course that is an answer from God! It is obvious in the conclusion you stated, God needed your baby. I love the way the Word will states general specifics, and the way the answer you received from God was stated in a general specific only validates it more. God needed both of your children lost early in this life. We might tend to think He needed them in Heaven for some reason, but we would be remiss to think that would be His only need for them. Their loss has certainly created much prayerful and Scriptural thought in your life. The probability it created much of the same in many lives close to you rises to the level of a certainty. And we all know how mind-changing one thought can be.
-----I realize nothing of this life happens without risk. To eliminate the risk of riding a bike you don’t get on it. To eliminate the risk of life you might not even get out of bed. But even then greater risk is incurred from lack of exercise and industry. The Bible calls us to be industrious and active, but cautious and faithful. It does not call us to avert risk, but to enter it wisely.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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