Christian Living
Don’t Be Too Wise Trying to Answer the Whys
By Jack Hager
Didn’t see the patch of ice. The car did a few 360s, bumped into the guardrail and came to a halt. My friend and I exited the car quickly as we saw other vehicles losing control. Thankfully there were no other incidents. Later, another friend said, “Man, God was really with you guys.”
Duh. Last time I checked “I am with you always” is still in the Scripture. I think I know what our friend was trying to say, but it really is a rather dumb thing to say, simply because I wonder what the friend would have said had we both been killed in the accident?
To say “God was with us” during a crisis is to, however unconsciously, imply that when people do get hurt or die in an accident God wasn’t with them.
This is true for a patch of ice, a medical diagnosis, or a person who stayed home with the flu…from their job in the World Trade Center on September 11.
One of the clearest texts advocating the sovereignty of God is Isaiah 46.9-11, “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure’…yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”
The sovereignty of God is weighty, perplexing, and all too often ignored. Prior to September 11, 2001 most Americans under 55 or so (with the exception of Korea, Vietnam, and Gulf War veterans) felt immune to the horrors of war. Some, even Christians, felt the kingdom began in 1776 and that God was somehow a chaplain for the American dream. “How could this happen in America?” is simply a dumb question. What could God possibly owe us? As horrific as the deaths of September are, the number was only a bit more than the deaths that occur every day in abortion clinics in this country.
Many learned folk spoke for God in the hours and days after September 11. Some spoke of God’s punishment, others said that was ridiculous. Personally, I wondered if I was at least partially responsible…I’ve been fairly faithful in praying for revival in America.
I draw comfort in my confusion from Deuteronomy 29.29, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow as the words of this law.”
The Hager paraphrase, “Don’t let what you don’t know mess up what you do know.” I have no idea why the tragedies of September 11 happened. Neither do I know why I didn’t die in Vietnam. But I do know the most horrific event in history, the cruel death of God’s Son, was planned before time began and was for my benefit.
And I do know that I am to pray, to trust, to rely, and to cling to the Lord Jesus Christ. I am to obey His clearly revealed Word.
Though I am shocked by the events of September 11, and am in the difficult throes of writing an editorial several weeks before it will see print…thus I’ve no idea what will happen in the interim, I am divinely confident that nothing will shock the Sovereign God, and that Romans 8.28 and Genesis 50.20 remain true.
Of the multitudes of email forwards I’ve received since September 11, the most meaningful was one I got that was written by a David Skidmore, a pastor whose second daughter was born on September 11. He closed his article with a profound observation sent to him by a friend, “On a day in which everyone is asking ‘Why would God let this happen?”…perhaps we should look at you holding your daughter and ask the very same question.”
“Why?” is a very human question, spawned by human emotion. It is okay to ask “why?” But for the believer we end up often at Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!”
And in the frustrations of life, and the unanswered “whys,” it is best to rest in another 911…Psalm 91.1, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Or, as “The Message” declares, “You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow. Say this, ‘God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!’”
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You present these words of timely reminder and re-assurance with the flair of a master at his craft, the message could not be more relevant. If only we as humans will listen and obey!
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