In the novel I’m writing right now, the main character experiences something difficult. She is young and laments to her mother, “Why did God let this happen?” Her mother answers her saying, “I think you are asking the wrong question. It isn’t up to us to ask God why. He’s God, and He doesn’t owe us any explanations. There are other much more powerful and productive questions to ask.”
I did a quick search in the Bible. A very young Samuel heard God calling him. He thought at first it was his teacher, Eli and he answered “Here I am.” Later, when he knew it was God, his answer was “Speak, I’m listening.” It isn’t recorded that Noah even answered God’s call to build the ark. He just did it. When Saul/Paul heard and saw Jesus on the road to Damascus, he asked “Who?” A few verses later when God called out to Ananias, the answer was simply, “Yes!” When Gabriel told Mary she was going to become pregnant and give birth to the Eternal King, she asked “How?” When Jesus, face to face, called Peter and Andrew, they dropped their fishing gear and followed him. Huh. No Whys? in that group.
I think many if not most of us have asked “Why?” in recent months. We ask why of the government leaders, why to God, why to our lives when things are hard. I’m realizing, though, that why is destructive. It makes me a victim. It makes me powerless. It traps me in anger. Starting now I’m going to make the effort to ask more enabling questions, “What can I learn here?”, “How can I be part of the solution?”, “Where can I channel my energies that will do the most good?”. Or simply, “Okay, God.”
