Yesterday on Facebook I posed the question, "Am I the only one who thinks, "God, why didn't this work out? My plan would have been so much more simple!!!"
For posing the question, I was told that:
a) I am immature
b) I shouldn't ask why
c) All of God's previous blessings should now preclude me from asking "Why?"
d) That I need to Proverbs 3:5,6 the problem
e) That I don't need to know, I just need to trust
f) I need to grow up
It is with a sincere heart that I say to those who chastised me for wondering "why"---have you considered King David?
I love David. He was real and emotional and vulnerable and fallable. He wrote from his heart and soul. He poured out his guts onto paper and we now have the Psalms. He doubted, he feared, he wept, he groaned, he whined, he complained, he felt forsaken and HE ASKED WHY!!!
Psalm 22:1,2
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.
For me, asking why builds my faith. For me, telling God, "I don't understand Lord" opens up channels of communication. For me, seeking God when I simply don't "get it" puts me right where I belong: at His feet and waiting. There is much to be said for being honest and vulnerable about the way we feel in times of confusion. My prayer is that because I say to God, "Why?" He will one day give me the answers that He gave David. It brings me such comfort and reassurance that because David cried out to the Lord and said, "Why God?" he received this from the Lord:
Psalm 22:3-5
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
Asking "Why" is NOT a lack of trust for me. It's quite the opposite really. I trust my wounded heart to Him and He never chastises me or chides me for my fears and doubts. I trust God with every fiber of my being. I trust Him with my heart, my family and my life. I also trust that He is big enough to know that my sinner's heart doubts and fears and asks why. I trust He loves me anyway. I trust that He will answer me in due time and should He not, I trust there is a reason.
Regardless of the condemnation I receive from others, I am going to continue to be real and transparent. I choose to be like David; real, transparent, questioning, doubting AND a man after God's own heart.
