When God Doesn't Make Sense
By Randy Smith
This is the
transcript of a message given at
The fact that we all go through difficult times is no new revelation to anyone here. Sorrow and difficulties could fill the shelves of whole libraries. And I’ve noticed something - we’ve become calloused. Maybe it’s because CNN or Fox News puts every disaster on our TV screen. Maybe it’s because we get on-line updates of death tolls from the latest bombing. But for some reason, we don’t get so moved anymore by big-time disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis.
When hard times hit, the questions persist, “Why God? Why me? Why aren’t you making sense?” Why did my child get sick? Why did my friend die at age 35? Why did she get cancer? Why did he lose his job? These are good, God fearing, God serving people. Why them?" In those dark, sad moments you cry out and you wonder what to do because God doesn’t make sense.
What makes these heartbreaks even worse is the fact that so many times we see no reason for what’s happening. Circumstances don’t add up and God doesn’t seem to make sense. That’s what this series is all about. We wrote this series to help you get through those times and to help you understand that – God does make sense!
Now to start this whole thing off, I’m going to give you
a deep, biblical truth that you can only grasp when you reach the deepest levels
of spirituality. Here it is…ready?
Even Jesus suffered. Isaiah
53:3-11 predicted what Jesus would go through when it says,
Everyone will suffer - that included Jesus! I’m not sure where we got the notion that following God means you’ll be healthy, wealthy and wise. The “name it / claim it” crowd has invented this concept that God skips along in front of us and pushes away all the troubles and trials. As a result, if you’re sick or suffering, you’re not in God’s will. WRONG!!!! That’s a false theology.
To the contrary, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble (John
Don’t fall for the false theology that God owes us smooth sailing and an always-healthy life. Maybe we get that, maybe we don’t – the choice is God’s. However, I can promise you this. Based on scripture and good old-fashioned common sense – life isn’t a box of cherries. Sooner or later we all get sick, we all experience suffering, we all hurt. Everyone will suffer and there’s another term for the pain and hurt and illness you’re sure to experience – it’s called life!
II. EXPLANATIONS AREN’T GUARANTEED
When sorrow or suffering hits one of the first things we say is, “Why God? Why would God permit this to happen to me? I’m a good guy / gal! I serve, I love, I even help set-up on Sundays!!!! Why me???? “Why would God do this?” we ask when sorrow or suffering hits. And many times we don’t get an answer. So we keep asking for explanations and when we don’t get answers we ask some more. And the more we don’t get answers, the more frustrated we get.
Well, you’re not the only one to feel that way.
Don’t feel like the lone ranger when you don’t get answers or an
explanation from God. Imagine how
Moses and Aaron felt when God told them to go to Pharaoh and ask for the
Israelites to be freed from slavery in
Scripture is full of those who followed God, paid dearly for it and never got an explanation until years afterwards or maybe never at all. Joseph spent years as a slave and in prison. Elijah obeys God, travels to the Kerith Ravine and he when he gets there the spring runs dry and he almost dies. In the New Testament John the Baptist gets beheaded, Stephen gets stoned (and we’re not talking about pot!), James is put to death and Paul gets tortured. All these guys were men who were sorely needed to help establish the church. Their deaths hurt a lot of people and every one of them suffered and died without an explanation.
I already mentioned that Hebrews 11 has a whole list of people who suffered terribly for their faith and what’s really interesting is that the chapter ends up by saying “none of them received what was promised.” None of them got an explanation! Sometimes you just don’t get an answer!
Let me tell you a secret - your demand for an explanation will keep you tense and nervous and stressed out about the things in your life. When something goes wrong in your life, when something doesn’t happen the way you think it ought to happen, you go, “Why?? Why, God? Why is this happening? Why did You allow this? Why is this happening to me?” and by going over and over it in your mind trying to figure out why something happened, you are kept in turmoil.
So let’s talk about your demands for an explanation of the things that happen in your life.
First off, we need to understand that God doesn’t owe you an explanation for anything. Look at the following scriptures.
(Proverbs 25:2) It is the glory of God to conceal a matter.
(Isaiah 45:15) Truly you are a God who hides himself.
(Deuteronomy 29:29) The secret things belong to the LORD our God,
Get the point? God is not obligated to explain everything that He does to you. You are the creation, He is the creator. God is a good God, He’s a just God, He’s a fair God, He’s a loving God, and He understands things that you don’t. You need to just say ok. The fact is God doesn’t owe you an explanation for anything in your life.
Two, even if He did explain why things happen the way they do, you probably wouldn’t understand it. God’s mind is so much greater than your mind, you can’t comprehend all the ways of God.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 says, “As you do
not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so
you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Romans
There are forces at work in your life, in your family, in our world and throughout history that, even if God sat down and took the time to explain to you how generations affect generations and on and on, you probably wouldn’t understand it anyway.
Explanations never satisfy. The
doctor says, “Well, he smoked.” The divorcing
parent says, “We just
grew apart.” The
boss says, “We’re downsizing.”
Everyone is a factual explanation, BUT none of them satisfy - none
give peace!
So what does work
in tough situations? What comforts
us is the presence & power of God in our life.
God’s care and concern gives us
comfort not God’s explanations. Stop
looking for something that you really don’t need.
Jeremiah 29:11
says, I know the plans I have for
you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to
give you a future and a hope.
The classic example of someone who never got an explanation can be found in the story of Job. In the Old Testament, Job played in the Superbowl of suffering. This guy was the wealthiest man who had ever lived. He was a very godly man, very dedicated, very devout to God. One day, actually a 48-hour period, he lost everything. First, all ten of his kids were murdered. Then he lost all his wealth and his crops were destroyed. His flocks and herds were destroyed. He went bankrupt instantly. He lost everything he had overnight. Then, as if that weren’t enough, he got a terrible, painful disease that left open soars on his body oozing and left him in pain 24-hours a day. You think you had a rough day! That’s pretty tough. The only thing that he was left with was a wife who nagged him! And she comes to Job and says, “Why don’t you just curse God and die?” That’s what I call emotional support!!!
But the most difficult thing about Job’s circumstance is this: there was no apparent explanation given. He had no reason why all these things had befallen him. There was no understanding, no hint, no God saying, “This is why I’m doing this, allowing this in your life.”
Looking back, we can see what was going on because, as we read he book of Job, we find out that there were forces at work, that God was allowing a test, that Satan was involved – there were all kinds of things that were going on that Job didn’t understand. We can see that looking back, but he had no idea in the moment. It didn’t make sense and the most difficult part of it was this: Job says, “Why is this happening, God? I’m a good guy!” And for 37 chapters God says nothing! Zip!
Have you ever been in a crisis when God was silent? That is one of the most difficult things to handle in life. When you’re going, “Why? Why is this happening?” and heaven is like a big, walled fortress and your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling and nothing is coming through.
That’s what was happening to Job. He was going through the greatest test of his life. It was a test of his peace of mind but it was also a test of his character. And Job passed the test.
Look at what he says, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Read that with me, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” That’s the key. We have to surrender and trust. Let me show you what I mean. Look at these verses:
Isaiah 26:3 “You, Lord, give true peace to those who depend on You because they trust in You.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don’t lean on your own
understanding. [Don’t try to figure it all out.] In all your ways
acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”
Philippians 4:6-7 “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s wonderful peace which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.”
That’s the answer! Trust God’s loving care in the situation.
On the other hand, go back to what Job’s wife said to him. In Job 2:9 she says, “Why don’t you just curse God and die?” Now I know this woman sounds like the Wicked Witch of the West and maybe she was BUT don’t be so quick to condemn her. Her reaction is not so uncommon. She’s hurt, angry, confused and scared. AND...she’s reacting the way most of us would.
Dr. James Dobson says, “Confusion is the factor that shreds one’s faith.” Man, is he ever dead-on right! If we know the reason for something, if we know the purpose, we can face hell with a water pistol! We can take enormous pain and even proudly face death if we know the reason, if the circumstances make sense. Read the stories of martyrs, political prisoners and war heroes who looked fearlessly in the eyes of their murderers. Why? They understood why!
But now take away that reason. If you don’t know the whys and wherefores you make the circumstances confusing and things go south quickly! We become confused and critical. Nothing anyone says can console us.
King David talked about that kind of heartbreak and confusion in the book of
Psalms. Look at what he says, “How
long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from
me?” (Psalm 13:1).
The Message version has a great translation of another passage where David expresses his confusion in tough times, “Will the Lord walk off and leave us for good? Will he never smile again? Is his love worn threadbare? Has his salvation promise burned out? Has God forgotten his manners? Has he angrily stalked off and left us? "Just my luck," I said. "The High God goes out of business just the moment I need him." Ever feel like that? That’s how Job’s wife felt – most of us have felt the same!
It is not uncommon for us to feel frustrated with God. We get tense when things happen to us that seem illogical or inconsistent with all the promises that made some of us sign up with God to begin with. For instance, one of the four spiritual laws shared with me when I became a Christ-follower was, “God has a wonderful plan for your life!” I still share that concept with people today! But I also admit, that when tough times hit, it doesn’t look like God’s plan is so wonderful.
For some of us, God’s “wonderful plan” may involve a wheelchair or an early death or a lifetime affliction like the Apostle Paul had or a divorce or a child who’s rejected us. For both the prophet Jeremiah and Joseph it meant years in a dungeon.
For you it may mean a job loss or infertility or an unfair death of a loved one. Whatever it is, each one of us – somewhere, somehow - will suffer and that doesn’t seem like a wonderful plan when you’re in the middle of the pain!
It doesn’t compute that the God who created this universe could rescue, could heal, could renew, could restore - but He doesn’t. But why won’t He? There is no reason for this happening! It doesn’t make sense and so, like Job’s wife, we get angry, frustrated and cynical.
To make matters worse we move away from the very thing that can give us life and hope. It’s like a vine that has grown up on the side of a house. You don’t want to rip the vine off – it could pull the paint off. So you make a quick cut at the base of the vine and just wait. Soon the leaves turn brownish then brown. They eventually fall away and soon the vine follows. Why? You removed the source of life!
The same thing happens when we remove ourselves from God in a crisis. We lose touch with God, doubt rises up and before you know it, doubt turns into disillusionment and then to despair. Life seems to stop; all the joy is gone! Church and small group and hanging out with those who can help you grow spiritually becomes a thing of the past. You take away the things that give life and then you wonder why you become bitter, unhappy and very, very sad.
Listen, no one can minimize the pain of seeing your child
afflicted or worse, die. I can
empathize with the pain of discovering your spouse doesn’t love you or has
found someone else. I can empathize
with the pain of seeing a loved one, a friend or a spouse die an untimely or
unfair death. I can empathize with
the pain of losing everything you have in a business venture or a fire or an
earthquake. Everyone says that it
was an act of God and that’s what hurts the most – you feel betrayed by a
God who was supposed to love and care for you.
To make matters worse, sometimes the problem starts because you were just
following Him!
If He chooses that we walk a bumpy road for a while we need to make a choice as well – trust and be thankful in the trial or become like Job’s wife – cold and cynical, removing ourselves from the source of life. It’s your choice!
III.
EACH OF US HAS TO MAKE
A CHOICE
We will see in the next few weeks that one of the reasons we have sorrow and suffering in this world is because God gives us free will. We aren’t forced to follow Him and either are others and sometimes we pay a price for that.
But we have choices and choices become an issue when it comes to suffering and sorrow too. There will be times when circumstances don’t add up and God doesn’t seem to make sense. And when those times come you have a choice.
You can chose to trust and hold on to God and the promise
the Apostle Paul shares with us in Romans 8, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor
demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
You can chose to believe the encouragement Isaiah 41:10 gives, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Scripture defines God as infinitely loving and kind, tenderly watching over us and making good the things that happen in the lives of those of us who follow Him. Psalm 95:7 says that we “are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.” You can choose to believe that or you can choose otherwise.
In those times when you suffer and don’t know why and
things just don’t make sense; there is hope.
You can trust in God. Romans
God loves you and wants to work with you to get through it.
You can trust in God even when He can’t be understood.
Cling to the promise, “Be still
and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10).
Start there – it’s a great foundation to build on!