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“O
LORD, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? Or cry to you
"Violence!"And you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise… You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and
cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when
the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?” (Habakkuk 1:2-3, 13)
Problems
are here to stay (John 6:33). They
are custom made for each of us. “All things work together for good...” (Romans 8:28), people love to quote this
Scripture to others who have troubles. But how many of us actually put it to
the test? The common tendency is to question, “Why, God?” “Why, me?” When
predicaments press in on us instead of loving God and trusting Him when things
go wrong, we resort to self-pity. But feeling sorry for yourself gets you
nowhere fast. Eventually, you become either discouraged or bitter against life
and against God.
The first
verse of Habakkuk tells us the frame of mind the prophet was in. (1:2-4), Habakkuk was not complaining
against God, but rather to God. He knew that God was just in all He did. But he
could not understand why God was allowing the situation to persist. He was in a
sense saying, “How long will you allow
the wicked to prosper? Why don’t you do something?” Somewhere along the way
in each of our lives, we face this same question. Why does God allow righteous
people to suffer and the wicked ones to go seemingly untouched by trouble? “It isn’t fair, we protest”.
In Psalm
73 is written an almost identical situation. What is the answer? (Ps. 73:17) The writer of this Psalm
really thought he had a case against God. He fussed and fumed impatiently until
finally God, in His quiet, loving way, said simply, “Look at the end of the story, and then you will understand.”
Often we
ask, “Why me Lord?” This can be either a negative question, “Why do I have so
much trouble?” When misfortune befalls us, we cry and pray and question. God
may answer our questions, and He may not. He is not obligated to explain His
actions to us (Rom. 9:20-21).
However, there are times when God in His mercy chooses to answer our questions
as He did Habakkuk. God even sends some things into our lives to cause us to
question because He has a message for us. When things happen which we do not
understand, we need to examine ourselves closely and listen intently for Gods
voice. Lets consider a few reasons for “Why me?”
THE LAW OF THE HARVEST
When
Israel, and later Judah, was invaded by the Babylonians, they were reaping the
harvest they had sown. If we mistreat our bodies, we can expect sickness. A
smoker dying with lung cancer need not ask, “Why me?” He should know. A drug
addict in a mental institution should not question God. A Christian who married
an unbeliever is only harvesting rebellion’s crop when that marriage falls
apart. And we could add many more examples. So when trouble comes, before we
question God, we need to question ourselves. “Is this the result of my actions? If so, where did I go wrong and
how can I prevent it from happening again?”
TO GET OUR ATTENTION
A little
boy was running through the house, laughing and playing. His mother called to
him several times, but he did not hear her. Finally, as he came running by, she
grabbed his arm. “Stop, listen to me.” We live in a busy world. From the time
our feet touch the floor in the morning until we pull them onto the bed at
night; there are a dozen things to do. To get our attention, God may have to
slam a “stop sign” in front of us. It may be sickness, a broken relationship, a
financial need. Whatever it may be, it stops our frantic rush and puts us on
our knees. Then we hear the soft, loving voice of God, “Listen to me, I have
something to tell you.”
TO BRING GLORY TO GOD
Seeing a
blind man, Jesus’ disciples asked, “Master,
who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:1-2) They
thought his affliction was the result of the law of the harvest. But Jesus
said, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor
his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (Jn.
9:3). Lazarus’ death was for the
glory of God (Jn. 11:4). From prison
the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church that his problems were designed
to spread the gospel (Phil. 1:12-14).
He saw the hand of God at work in his life. His affliction was furthering the
work of God. Faith in God plays an important role in helping us maintain our
spiritual balance when we walk through these dark, trying times for we often do
not know until we come out on the other side if our trial brought glory to God.
TO PERFECT US
The
potter may have to crush and remold a vessel several times before it pleases
him. A seamstress may have to rip, trim, and alter a garment before it fits
perfectly. A writer writes and rewrites before he is satisfied with his work.
So the Lord often has to crush our pride, break our will, alter our attitude,
trim our desires and rework our plans to perfect us. We may have to fall down
before we look up. (I Peter 5:10).
FOR REASONS KNOWN ONLY TO GOD
There are
times when we question, “Why me Lord?”
and He answers, “Trust Me.” One lady
who had been going through intense suffering taking chemotherapy treatments for
cancer testified, “I asked God, Why not
me?” And she gave praise to God for loving her and being with her through
her suffering.
We find no
record that Job was ever told why he suffered as he did. He question, “Why me?”
He looked everywhere for the answer but it was hidden from him (Job 23:3-10). It is in situations such
as Job’s that faith is purified. So often when we ask, “Why me, Lord?” the answer comes, “Wait until morning, then you will understand.” Some things we will
never understand in this life. We have to trust God who does all things well
and keep walking with Him (Isaiah
55:8-9).
A dog cannot
understand why he is made to stay in a fenced yard, but still he is faithfully
devoted to his master. A baby does not understand why he is given a measles
shot, yet he continues to love his mother. As children of God we often cannot
comprehend the ways of God, but we must keep trusting and praising Him.
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