When God Doesn't Make Sense

I'm sure that everyone reading this has at some time faced great pain in their life.  We have all suffered loss or hurt, and at times our faith has been severely tried.  I believe that God's purposes and timing are perfect, though we might not agree all the time.  The trials we face are there to strengthen our faith and bring us into closer communion with the Lord.  First Peter 1:7 says in regard to trials, "These have come so that your faith --of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."  I believe that at times we are called to suffer so that our faith may be strengthened and our trust in the Lord renewed.  How we walk through our trials is a testament to our faith in the One who will deliver us.  James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trails of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  

Recently my family suffered a great loss.  My aunt Margaret lost her battle with pancreatic cancer last Sunday after 13 months of fighting.  We are relieved that her suffering is over, but her death has caused many to question God's goodness and love.  We may never know why the Lord decided to take her at such a young age, but I know that we can trust in His purposes for our lives, and His timing is always perfect.

I don't claim to have all the answers to why God ordains suffering in our lives, but I do know that without trusting in His absolute goodness I would be lost.  Because of the presence of sin in this world there will be pain and suffering.  Only when Christ is revealed will He "wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4)  I have hope that there will be a time when the pains of this world seem an eternity away.  Until that time comes though, what are we to do when God's plan doesn't make sense to us?  What do we do when it feels like he is a million miles away and unconcerned with our pain?

The majesty of God is incomprehensible to me.  I cannot fathom every aspect of the nature of God even though I daily seek His face.  The wonder of the Lord is too great for me.  Isaiah came to a similar conclusion when he wrote these words spoken by God, "For 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."  We are not meant to understand everything about what God choses to do.  There will always be certain things that he chooses not to reveal to us.  Who are we to question this about God?  I find comfort in this verse, because I know that God is bigger than any pain I may face in this life.  He is ultimately in control and will not fail me.

Lately I have been thinking about the terrible suffering of Job, and his decision to not curse God and die, as his wife urged him to do.  He had lost his children, his home, his possessions, and his health.  Through his torment Job seriously questioned God's goodness and His intimate involvement in his life.  God answered Job in chapters 38-41 reminding Job that God alone is in control.  Job's reply to the Lord is a humbled one.  "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.  You ask, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'  Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.  You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.'  My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."  


God's rebuke to Job in his time of distress might seem a bit harsh, but sometimes we need a stern reminder of who is really in charge.  Sometimes we're tempted to think that God should cater to our wants, and when He fails to do that we have the audacity to doubt His goodness.  Perhaps God doesn't give us what we want because He wants instead to give us what we need.  And what we need is often perspective.  Eternal perspective.  When we look at life in light of eternity, our trails and suffering seem momentary.  As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  We can come through the trials of life by fixing our eyes on Christ, and remembering that He suffered the ultimate pain to bring us new life.  Our God is not unfamiliar with sacrifice and hurt.  He gave up His only Son so that we might really live.  He endured the agony of the cross so that we might find restoration and mercy.  When we walk through pain we can identify more closely with Christ.  In Philippians 3:17 Paul writes, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharon gin his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."  

Though we experience deep hurt during our time on this earth, we can rest in the promise that it is not in vain.  God has a purpose for us in the testing of our faith so that we will be transformed even more into the image of Christ.  Though we don't always understand the reasons for our pain, we can trust that God is always good, and He will never leave us.  And in the end Jesus himself will wipe away our tears and we will see at last the purpose of pain.