Last Thursday, in “Understanding the ‘Why’, Part 1”, we saw that though it makes it a lot easier to go through trials when we understand why, we can trust God to know why, even when we don’t see it. We can take comfort in the fact that God is always in control.
Is it even truly humanly possible to understand the ‘why’ in each and every situation?
I didn’t think so, and I was learning to be content in not knowing, when God gave me the following text: “Evil men do not understand justice, But those who seek the Lord understand all.” (Prov 28:5)
I did a double take when I read this verse this morning. I am busy resigning myself to the fact that I don’t need to understand everything, that I can trust God to be in charge of my negative circumstances even when I don’t understand why, and now I see that it IS actually possible to ‘understand all’?
Wow!
Notice, however, that there is, indeed, a qualifier to this promise: “those who seek the Lord…” Yes, it is possible to find an answer to the ‘why’ question, but only to those who seek the Lord.
Does this mean that it is available to us whenever we seek to know the answer to ‘why’ in the midst of a storm? Or does it mean that the answers to the ‘why’ questions are available to those who make it a habit of seeking the Lord? To those who pursue a daily, personal, deep relationship with God? To those whose trust is truly without borders?
I would have to say that perhaps just seeking God in the midst of our trials for the purpose of understanding why we are going through what we face is probably not what the text is referring to here. You see, if we only seek God in the midst of our trials, we will not cultivate that friendship relationship that we need to even recognize His voice when He does speak to us.
Rather, I would suggest that this text means that when we are in the habit of seeking God at all times–when we pursue a personal, daily relationship with God; when our trust grows to the point that it is truly without borders–that is when we will begin to see. We won’t just our trials of today, but we will begin to see all things from His perspective. And as we begin to see His big picture unfolding, understanding the ‘why’ in the face of our trials will be a natural progression of our relationship with God.
Three years ago, I was chosen to go through cancer. Naturally, I asked ‘why’. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite at the point where I could say I trusted God to know the ‘why’, nor was I close enough to God to see anything from His perspective. It was in the midst of this trial that I learned that I didn’t need to know ‘why’, that I could trust that God knew why, and that was all I needed. And so I set out, through the cancer walk, to become closer to God. I have to tell you that God couldn’t have chosen any trial for me that would have better accomplished that purpose, and at the end, He began to give me glimpses of the big picture. At the end, as a result of my seeking God diligently–not because I wanted to know why, but because I wanted to know Him–I became privy to the answers to the ‘why’ questions.
Since this time, I have made it a point of seeking God on a daily basis, of seeking to know Him more, of longing to have a greater desire to know Him more fully, and since this time there have been many trials that have arisen. Perhaps these have not been on the same scale as cancer, but each time, God has made me privy to the answer to the ‘why’ question, at least in part. Not because I sought Him in the midst of the trial for the purpose of knowing why, but because I seek Him regularly for the purpose of knowing Him more.
Want to know why you are going through cancer or other major illnesses? Want to understand why you’ve been chosen to go through divorce? Want to comprehend why dealing with rebellious teens or financial problems has been ‘dumped’ on you? Then seek God with all your heart on a daily basis for the sole reason of desiring to know Him more. He is more than happy to help us understand why we are going through what we face, we just need to seek Him more!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two, Author — “Aboard God’s Train — A Journey With God Through the Valley of Cancer”, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.
(To access the entire “Understanding the Why” mini-series, please click here.)