When Why? doesn't have an answer

Two or three weeks ago I was able to spend three days in Scarborough with my wife, Sue. Fortunately the weather was fairly good, and we enjoyed quite a bit of sunshine. One day, however, one of Scarborough's famous sea frets rolled in off the sea; it was a bit like something out of Doctor Who. Parts of the town were in bright sunshine, whilst others were obscured by a thick, misty fog. It certainly produced a rather weird atmosphere.

All this got me to thinking about those times in life when we can't see things clearly. Perhaps something has happened and we just can't understand why God would have allowed it, or a plan we had made didn't work out as we expected, and we don't understand why.

I found it interesting to discover that the word "why" appears around 500 times in the Bible! Towards the beginning of the "Christianity Explored" course, participants are invited to consider one question they would ask God if they had the opportunity. I guess that for a large number, the question might begin with "why....?"

In times when we struggle to see clearly, when we can't understand why things have happened in a certain way, we are faced with a choice. We can either believe that God has got it wrong, or we can trust that St Paul was right when he said that ultimately God works all things for the good of those who trust him. As for me, I believe that we need to listen to God's words through the prophet Isaiah, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

There have been a number of times in my life when I really didn't understand why God had allowed certain things to happen; times when I have been really hurt by the way things have worked out. In the end, though, I have hung on to the knowledge that God knows best, and that he is faithful. I have to trust him - the alternative is too awful to contemplate.