I am very fond of the question, "why?" In fact, it's basically become imperative for me to answer that question before I do anything. Why am I doing this? Why do we do things this way, or that way? I'm really asking: "What am I hoping to accomplish? What's my goal? The chief end towards which I am striving?" I often use this interrogative in my conversations with the Father, as well. Why do people act so mean to each other? Why did Jesus say what he said in this or that passage? Why is there such pain and suffering in the world?
I think a spoonful of why can do a lot of good for our heart of hearts. As Aristotle once said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."
But there is a place where a boundary is crossed, and we move into hostile territory, and that is when doubt seeps into our minds. We become drunk on Why? and wander further and further into the numb Netherworld of the question "Where?"
"Where were you, God, when_______ happened?"
This is not so much a question as it is an accusation; "proof" of the absence of God that we perceive all too often. This can then easily evolve into an even more sinister demon. It's one that asks, "How could a loving God allow such evil to exist?"
Let's look at an example:
Recently, several violent tornadoes swept through some of the southern states and numerous people lost their homes or were killed in the storms. Some believers might ask, Where is God in all that? If there is a God, why would he let this happen?
That's a good question, and a fair one in my opinion.
But brothers and sisters, we should consider the truth that we now have the Holy Spirit -- enlightening us, illuminating us, indwelling us. So when we ask, "Where is God?", it really is a self-convicting question. The church universal is called to be the hands and feet of Christ -- to be God's representatives in this dark world in which we shine like stars in the universe (Phil 2:15).
Don't ask where God is, instead ask Where am I? Perhaps when we feel that sense of cosmological injustice and brokenness in the world that leads to unrighteous anger, that uncomfortable feeling is actually the prompting of the indwelling Holy Spirit to act. Maybe God will choose to use us to be a presence in dark times such as these.
God, grant us the wisdom to know your presence and to recognize its infinity.
There is no place we may go where you are not.
Help us, we pray, when we feel angst in our spirits,
To acknowledge your prompting. Move us into action, Father.
And when circumstances are truly out of our control,
May we remember to trust you and place our faith in You alone.
Amen.
I think a spoonful of why can do a lot of good for our heart of hearts. As Aristotle once said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."
But there is a place where a boundary is crossed, and we move into hostile territory, and that is when doubt seeps into our minds. We become drunk on Why? and wander further and further into the numb Netherworld of the question "Where?"
"Where were you, God, when_______ happened?"
This is not so much a question as it is an accusation; "proof" of the absence of God that we perceive all too often. This can then easily evolve into an even more sinister demon. It's one that asks, "How could a loving God allow such evil to exist?"
Let's look at an example:
Recently, several violent tornadoes swept through some of the southern states and numerous people lost their homes or were killed in the storms. Some believers might ask, Where is God in all that? If there is a God, why would he let this happen?
That's a good question, and a fair one in my opinion.
But brothers and sisters, we should consider the truth that we now have the Holy Spirit -- enlightening us, illuminating us, indwelling us. So when we ask, "Where is God?", it really is a self-convicting question. The church universal is called to be the hands and feet of Christ -- to be God's representatives in this dark world in which we shine like stars in the universe (Phil 2:15).
Don't ask where God is, instead ask Where am I? Perhaps when we feel that sense of cosmological injustice and brokenness in the world that leads to unrighteous anger, that uncomfortable feeling is actually the prompting of the indwelling Holy Spirit to act. Maybe God will choose to use us to be a presence in dark times such as these.
God, grant us the wisdom to know your presence and to recognize its infinity.
There is no place we may go where you are not.
Help us, we pray, when we feel angst in our spirits,
To acknowledge your prompting. Move us into action, Father.
And when circumstances are truly out of our control,
May we remember to trust you and place our faith in You alone.
Amen.