Today’s Daily Bread ~ Why?

Lamentations 3:37-38 – Can anything happen without the Lord’s permission?  Is it not the Most High who helps one and harms another? 

I have a dear friend who is desperately struggling, and I, in turn, am struggling with this: God’s permissive will.

She and her husband are good people, active in church, always volunteering and cheerfully giving.  And they are in danger of losing everything.  And as much as I don’t want to write about it, this is the Scripture that keeps coming to me.  As He usually does, the Holy Spirit is encouraging me to face the things I don’t understand, rather than flee from them.

Nothing happens without the Lord’s permission.  Nothing.  And the unfairness of life is astonishing.

Some of us are born into families that have plenty of money and two parents that love each other, and some of us are born into broken homes riddled with alcohol and abuse.  Some people coast through life, picking and choosing from opportunities handed to them on silver platters, and others go to the mat for every inch they’ve ever gained.

Isaiah is my favorite of all the prophets, and thousands of years ago he spoke words that apply to this very situation.  “Destruction is certain for those who argue with their Creator.  Does a clay pot ever argue with its maker?  Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you are doing it wrong!’  Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be!’  How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father and mother, ‘Why was I born?  Why did you make me this way (Isaiah 45:9-10)?’” 

I don’t know why bad things happen to good people…I don’t.  But I know that God is good…all the time.  “My thoughts are completely different than yours,” says the LORD.  “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.  For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).”

 My three year old son doesn’t understand why he has to get a shot at the doctor’s office when he doesn’t feel sick.  It does very little good to try to explain why the nurse has to inject a deadened form of a virus into his little body.  His young mind isn’t equipped to understand that he needs to form antibodies so that if he were to get infected, his body could rid itself of the intruding virus.  Nick has no idea that all of these things go on inside his little body.  He only knows that it hurts.  We are the same way.

When I know I need to inflict pain for my children’s betterment, I simply hold them and ask them to trust me.  Jesus does the same.

On a spiritual level, we simply can’t see the bigger picture going on around us.  We cannot see the fine tapestry that God is skillfully, beautifully weaving.  But we can choose to trust Him, and to trust that His plan is perfect. 

I don’t know why some people struggle so.  I don’t know why some people are born with one too many or two few chromosomes.  I don’t know why rogue cells go unchecked, ravaging a healthy body until cancer renders it unrecognizable.  I don’t know why some people can look at a piece of cake and leave it alone, yet I have to eat it until every last crumb is gone (and if no one were watching I’d lick the plate).  I don’t know why my sisters grew up in the same house, with the same circumstances as me, yet I was held captive by an eating disorder and almost crippled with anxiety, and they were spared (thank you God, for that one).  I don’t know why some people can stop at half a glass of wine, while I have to finish a bottle.  All I know is this…God loves us with an unfailing, unfathomable love.  A love that chose nails on a cross over a throne in heaven.  A love that shed the blood of His Son for an unbelieving people.  A love that covers every sin, rights every wrong, and heals every hurt.  And I trust Him because of it.  I trust that the Father who loves me with a self-sacrificing, everlasting love is working, ultimately, for the good of those who love Him.

Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.  Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths.  You care for people and animals alike, O LORD.  How precious is your unfailing love, O God!  All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.  You feed them from the abundance of Your own house, letting them drink from Your rivers of delight.  For You are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. ~ Psalm 37:5-9

Come, beloved.  You are loved.  You are safe.  Listen to me, and I will tell you of great and wonderful things.  For no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what I have prepared for those who love me. 

Dear Heavenly Father, we love You so much.  We don’t understand why things happen, so please help us to accept that sometimes, we simply aren’t given the answers we want.  Instead, You give us Jesus.  Jesus is the answer to every hurt, every heartache, every fear, every illness, every emptiness.  Lord, please give us the faith of David, of Moses.  Please help us to stride through this life with confidence, walking in the victory You have already won.  Let us boast only in You, Lord.  Let us be a blessing to others.  Write Your Words on our hearts, and help us to live out our faith, shining Your light for all the world to see.  We ask these things in the precious, perfect name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.