journey onWord with us

Do you ever feel like life is just one confusing event after another? There is so much that happens and we are left wondering, “why?”  Daniel was a man who did right, honored God and still had some really confusing times. Just this morning I was again impressed with his ability to live out his difficulties with great faith.  On this side of eternity, there will be countless confusing circumstances and equally as many un-answered questions. Often, there is a sense of feeling disobedient or “unspiritual” when we think or voice honest questions about the tough issues we face. But believe me, God can handle our honesty. Look with me at a few examples that will resonate with all of us. I present these words not to prompt answers, but to remind us all of His sovereignty in our confusion.

– I prayed so hard about it, but things still didn’t turn out well.
– Why did such a godly person pass away so young?
– Why do some of the people I care for have so much pain?  It seems unfair.
– Parents walk with God in front of their children, and then their children go a different direction.
– Does all of this praying we do really matter?

In your silent moments, I’d guess some of those very thoughts have passed through your mind. A godly relative told me once, “faith is great … after the fact”. Even though I gave him a good spiritual lecture, I am not naïve of the fact that most of us have experienced similar feelings. So how do we balance our confidence in the sovereignty and sufficiency of our Lord with the constant messages of life that attack our faith? We must choose to live by trusting in the absolute truth of God’s Word, and the power of its Author. Agreeing with the Word intellectually may be a given in your life, but battles still rage in the practice of truth.

In his great work, (that I quote often), My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers gives insight into the confusion(s) of life. He said, “You cannot think through spiritual confusion to make things clear; to make things clear, you must obey”. Isn’t it true that in our quest to make sense of this life, we far too often use our own reasoning to make everything fit? Unfortunately for us, even our best reasoning falls short in the simplest of life’s quandaries.  We will never conquer the bigger questions like why some get cancer, or why the wicked strike it rich. Our best choice is to follow the logic of Oswald Chambers. Obeying the truth of Scripture and the prompting of the Spirit will help make things clear. Clarity will come in gaining His perspective, and not by having all of our questions answered.

We all face tough issues and experience suffering, some of it may even be devastating. Pull no punches with God; cry out to Him! There is no one more acquainted with your grief. And then accept that He will choose what He wants to reveal to us. He is God!

It is not His design to answer all of our questions on this side of eternity.  But He has given us His Word and His promise of peace. If you are a Christ follower, don’t worry about what you can’t figure out or fix. Just obey what you know to be true, and accept that in deep confusion, His perspective can come!  His peace that passes understanding can be yours!