Have You Ever Asked "Why?" / Guest Post by Rick Fossier

Every day we ask questions. “How does this work?”  “When did she get there?”  “What’s that noise coming from?” “Who got the promotion?”  Or thought of through the lens of sports, the questions are a little more specific.  “How does he shoot the puck that hard?”  “When should I get to the front of the net to create traffic?”  “Who is going to run the half wall?”

All of those are good questions, and it is in asking questions that we avail ourselves of learning and growing. But there is one question that is in the minds of all men, all women, and even all children at a certain point. Often it can be a haunting question, especially as we are observing, or even more personally, as we are experiencing the pains that come with life here on earth. The universal and ubiquitous question is simply, “Why?”

For almost any singular experience, relationship, or event, and certainly for all those experiences, relationships and events strung together, wanting to understand the “why” is unavoidable. It is not good, nor is it bad. It is the human experience, the gift of having been made in the image of God (Gen 1:27).

As I write this at the age of 57, I am encouraged to share with those who will consider this post that after many years of asking that question, the study of God’s Holy Scriptures has led me to what I am confident is an answer to the large question of “why”?

 It has been there in plain sight for me to see, but has only very recently become starkly clear to me. It can be found in many verses in places like 2 Corinthians 5, Philippians 3, Hebrews 11 and 13, 2 Peter 3, and Revelation 21 to name a few.  But the ones that hit me the hardest are two verses on this topic, as follows:

When we win games or win championships, get selected for a team, get a promotion and even get told “yes” when asking for your wife’s hand in marriage, why?  For God’s purposes.

When thinking through these fun, victorious moments in life, I used to think that God was saying, “I love you.  You matter to Me.  I am for you, and I want you to enjoy this world.  So here you go!”  What is different now, as I come to understand more clearly what His perfect and pleasing will is?

Now I see God’ Word as telling me, “Yes, I love you.  Yes, you matter to Me. Yes, I am for you. AND I have a purpose to accomplish THROUGH you on this earth!” In Luke 19:10 Jesus clearly states His mission – “for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (ESV).

God is our Good Father, and good fathers love when their children are happy. Even still, our happiness is not God’s end goal with us.  Especially because we tend to place our affections on the experiences or outcomes that make us feel happy, the gift so to speak, rather than the Giver.  Yet He is not merely here to make us happy.  He is a Good Father with good plans for us and He will accomplish His purposes.

If God was all about us enjoying ourselves in this world, then it sure would seem like He is failing very often.  When a close friend dies as happened two different times to me in 2023 (which I am sure is far less and even far less painful than the losses others have experienced), God seems to be failing if the aim is for me to be happy and content.  When my children go through painful relational difficulties with their own friends or male/female relationships, God seems to be failing – because I had prayed for the opposite to occur.  In other words, without beating this topic absolutely through the ground, God is not failing – He is pointing.  He is saying that He loves us completely, and He knows what is good for us – what is best for us.  That is Him.  He is best for us.  And He has way bigger and better plans for us than merely experiencing temporary wins or happiness in our human experience.

So, if you find yourself asking “why?” take hope in the truth that God has a much bigger plan. If you feel like God is failing, remember that He is pointing. He loves us completely, and He knows what is good for us – what is best for us.  HE is best for us.  Let Him point you towards His purposes. He has way bigger and better plans for us than merely experiencing temporary wins or happiness in our human experience.

I am learning every day to look in that direction, in His direction, and join Him in doing the will of God.
 
All, all, all praise goes to Him for giving us this truth in plain sight.