Attitude, Encouragement, Healing, Stress
When You Want to SCREAM… Why?
Good Questions
Questions wield tremendous power because they activate the brain.
Questions are the key that unlocks the door of imagination and creativity in your brain.
Questions birth new inventions, businesses and cures for diseases.
Processing the right questions help us identify the core problem, instead of putting bandaids on consequences.
Questions can lead us to answers that bring wealth and joy to our lives and those around us.
But sometimes…
we wield questions like hammers.
Blaming!
Accusing!
Condemning!
…even in our response to God.
WHY?
We demand an answer…why? Even when we don’t allow it to escape our lips–we are screaming it inside.
We defend our rigid position with…
But I did…and fill in the blank with the reason we deserve a different place in life.
Defenses like: But I
…prayed so hard.
…studied so long.
…acted so right.
…was a good mother.
….was a good wife.
WHY?
We ask “why”, not to get an answer. But because we’re angry!
I deserve better than this.
It’s not fair!
..me? Why me?
Our questions can become sour and cynical as they fester, unanswered in our minds…still worse, in our hearts.
Our angry “why” only becomes a wall that keeps our pain inside and our peace outside.
That simple three lettered word can become a thief that will absolutely rob you blind.
blind to God’s love.
blind to what you have left.
blind to hope.
There are some “why” questions that will never be answered in this life.
I don’t know why…but it’s true.
I have some of my own– unanswered questions.
Sometimes, we don’t have a lens to see beyond the pain of the devastation of our now.
We simply can’t see beyond the no of our now to know the reality our eyes can not see.
Jesus asked that ominous “why” question hanging on the cross in the midday darkness of His crucifixion. Matthew 27:46
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
Jesus didn’t ask why, because He didn’t know the answer.
He asked because He was the answer!
to man’s sin question.
to man’s spiritual poverty question.
to all the questions they would ever ask.
and the ones they should ask, but didn’t know to ask.
(Great info from John Gill Commentary)
He was experiencing the reality that the penalty of sin seperates us from God.
He said, “My God, My God,” Not in the irreverent, blasphemous way our culture has of using God’s name.
But Jesus was declaring His faith.
Jesus was declaring His dependency!
He was pointing the way, even as God was making a way.
WHY?
In Matthew 27:46 The word Hinati is used for why. It is used only 6 times. It means “for what purpose.”
There was purpose beyond what they could see. There was meaning beyond their grasp.
And God was about to give them and us a visual to illustrate the purpose behind the crisis.
Mark 15:38 “And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. 38And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
The temple veil that separated man from God was ripped from top to bottom.
God ripped the heavy, ornate curtain like a first grader folds and rips a piece of paper to share with his friend, and tore that fabric barrier from top to bottom.
God’s handiwork was more than a mere visual. It was an invitation for you to come into His presence.
An invitation for you to come
…pain and all.
with questions. Even if your “why” is gigantic.
with doubts.
with fear.
with anger.
Jesus knows
about pain.
about loss.
about rejection.
He invites you in…
not so you can compare battle scars.
not so you can commiserate with each other.
but to make you whole.
Jentzen Franklin says “He is Lord of what you’ve lost. He is Lord of what you have left.” (This message is AMAZING!!!!) Or better yet sign up for his podcasts on iTunes.
I believe there is a key here.
…you can trust Him, even when you don’t understand what’s going on.
you can trust Him, even when life doesn’t make sense.
God’s not the source of your pain, but He is the answer to your pain.
Turn to HIM!
Surrender your WHY to Him.
I know surrender is a tough thing to do.
We want our way
in our timing… most of that timing is something like…NOW!
We want to be comfortable.
Surrender can take you down a path that doesn’t twist through comfortable or easy terrain.
But look what happens
…look…don’t miss this!
When we run to Him and surrender our why.
He’ll turn your WHY around…
Your WHY becomes YHW
In His hands it becomes YHWH (I added the H from Him)…which is the tetragrammaton of Yahweh. (It is often spelled by Jewish people without the vowels.) It’s the name, not title, but name God gave Himself. It is translated LORD (all caps) in most places in the Bible. (See John Piper’s awesome article on Yahweh.)
I’ve discovered when He shows up, He changes things.
He changes me.
He brings peace.
He brings joy.
He lavishes me with His love!
I don’t know where you are in your walk with God. I don’t know what pain you’ve walked through or where you are in your journey from pain to wholeness…
But I know the answer is still Jesus.
Don’t allow your pain or your giant “why” to come between you and your answer.
He loves you and He wants to heal you and make you whole. Sozo. (Another teaching for another day.)
Please ask God to remind you of someone you know that is asking the “why” question. Pray for that person right now. Ask God to help them that their faith will not fail. Ask God to minister His love and His peace to them, right where they are.
They https://youtu.be/pGmKC34UZ68