The following post was originally posted in August last year. With world events being what they are right now, Why God? Is the question many are asking. Why are these things happen often remains within the realm of the unknown. But one thing is certain, while the world is fallen and its effects run rampant among us, God is good.
I remember the phone call. The news was bad; it was the kind that could knock you off your feet. My first thought wasn’t a prayer for help. My first thought was, ‘Why, God?’ Have you ever had a moment like that?
It’s striking how quickly our hearts can blame God when life unravels. All too easily, we forget the many moments of His faithfulness and zero in on the pain right in front of us. Our subconscious tells us that because we’ve committed to follow Christ, we have a “right” to live apart from the human experience. Rather than feeling grateful for His love and mercy and the grace offered to us by Jesus’ sacrifice, we stomp our feet in defiance. It should not be this way!
The question is, is God truly the one behind our suffering, or could the source be found elsewhere? In our own choices or the plans of the enemy who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy (see John 10:10)?
Why God? A meltdown
So, asking, Why God? Comes to mind when the naturally inexplicable happens. If God is all-powerful, why did He allow this to happen? Even if He isn’t behind it, why was it allowed? On and on we go, feeling justified to question Him.
Surely I’m not the only one who’s melted down like that?
I’m embarrassed to admit that I have asked that question more than once, twice, up to ten times, and perhaps more! Recently, I had a hiccup with my visa renewal. As per the title of this blog site, A Cultural Shift, I live in a land whose culture is foreign to my own. I’ve lived overseas since 1987, which should by this time classify me as a pro. But pro status I am not. The longer I’m here, the more I realize how much there is still to learn.
Visa renewal and fire
It was time to renew my three-year visa, and when it was approved, it was only renewed for three months. Now, mind you, I’ve had to renew many, many visas. This is by no stretch of the imagination my first rodeo. However, I am weary of the process and hope to have a more permanent visa one day, in the not-too-distant future. It’s all a process that is too long and tedious to describe to you here.
To put it simply, I have felt like a nomad for a long time.
You can, however, imagine how distraught I felt when I saw that the visa I received wasn’t valid for the three years we had requested. So, it was back to the drawing board: gathering documents (so many documents!), filling out applications, and making endless photocopies. At times, I wondered if the paperwork would ever come to an end. At last, the file was finally completed and submitted just last week.
Now we wait, hoping for the original three-year extension we had requested.
Walking the tightrope
We have long walked the tightrope of acquiring visas to live and serve in these nations. Typically, these visas are valid for a period of only two years. If you do the math, you can see we’ve had to renew visas some 20 times over the years. That’s per person. We have six in our family, the three oldest have married and live in the USA, but there are still three of us at home. That’s a lot of paperwork, resulting in numerous opportunities to trust God.
Unfortunately, I haven’t always seen those times as opportunities to trust God. Instead, I’ve slipped back into asking, ‘Why, God?’ more times than I can count. I’ve even felt justified in asking: Why, after all these years of putting my neck on the line, do I still have to keep trusting? Can’t I get a freebie now and then?
Oh, but the truth is that I’ve had plenty of those freebies. God has provided finances, health, joy, and sweet family reunions (a blessing all the more precious when loved ones live far apart). Yet in moments of anxiety, I tend to forget them, stomping my feet like a spoiled child instead of remembering His faithfulness.
Why have You left me here, hanging out to dry? Haven’t You seen my years of faithful service? Maybe You don’t think I’m worthy, but why am I not worthy of this blessing? Hasn’t my sacrifice up to this point counted for something?
And so the foot-stomping continues. Round and round it goes, as my anger over the situation only fuels the anxiety building inside me. It’s a vicious cycle, and one I know all too well.
Why walking in the fire?
Jesus never promised that life would be devoid of troubles. We are in the world, but He holds us as we live in it. This means we will be exposed to life’s ups and downs, but He walks with us through them.
Do you remember the story of Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego? In Daniel 3, these young men wouldn’t bow to the King’s idol, and consequently, they were thrown into a fiery furnace. Yet, in that furnace, a fourth Man walked with them and kept them from being burned. Yes, God was with them in the fire. Why didn’t God prevent them from being thrown into the fire in the first place? We don’t know. What we do know is that He walked in the fire with them.
An interesting point found in the account of these three young men in Daniel 3 is that they didn’t base their loyalty to God on whether or not He would save them. I can’t always say the same of myself. There have been times that I’ve been guilty of basing my loyalty on what God does for me, rather than simply on who He is.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not worried about what will happen to us. If we are thrown into the flaming furnace, our God is able to deliver us; and he will deliver us out of your hand, Your Majesty. But if he doesn’t, please understand, sir, that even then we will never under any circumstance serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have erected."
Daniel 3:16-18 TLB
Why in the lions’ den?
Another lesson is found in Daniel 6, where Daniel was cast into a den of lions because he didn’t ask for favor from the King as prescribed by law (see Daniel 6:6); he prayed only to God. Notice that God didn’t keep him from being thrown into the den, but He protected him while he was in it. As Daniel was lowered among the lions, there is no record of him screaming in fear. I like to imagine him walking in at peace, fully trusting God’s presence.
So at last the king gave the order for Daniel’s arrest, and he was taken to the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you worship continually, deliver you.” And then they threw him in.
Daniel 6:16 TLB
We know the outcome: God delivered Daniel from the lions and dealt with those who had accused him by throwing them into the den instead. They were torn apart before they even hit the ground.
Job lost everything
I must also mention the life of Job, who served God faithfully. He was a wealthy man with a large family, prospering in all he did, and highly regarded by all. Yet tragedy struck, and in a single day, Job lost everything: his family, his wealth, and his honor (see Job 1).
Despite his sorrow, Job’s reaction wasn’t one that most of us would have had were we to have faced the same tragedy:
Then Job stood up and tore his robe in grief and fell down upon the ground before God. “I came naked from my mother’s womb,” he said, “and I shall have nothing when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had, and they were his to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job 1:20-21 TLB
Throughout the book of Job, his steadfast loyalty to God is evident. Even when his friends (whose counsel, I often wonder, was somewhat skewed) tried to sway him. His wife urged him to curse God (see Job 2:9). Still, Job remained faithful through it all. The Bible says that Job didn’t speak against God, but instead held on to his integrity, refusing to let his suffering redefine his view of God’s character.
In all of this Job did not sin or revile God.
Job 1:22 TLB
But he replied, “You talk like some heathen woman. What? Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant?” So in all this Job said nothing wrong.
Job 2:10 TLB
Strange things and fiery trials
So it is with us. When trouble strikes, we often act as though it were some “strange thing” that we should face what is, in reality, common to all people everywhere. Life comes wrapped with its share of challenges, yet we’re sometimes surprised when hardship knocks at our door. Jesus said that in the world we will have “tribulation” but to “take courage” because He overcame the world (see John 16:33).
Paul took this approach when he was before King Agrippa, who was ruling over Galilee, Syria, and some parts of Jerusalem at the time. He was chained, giving his defense before the King, and said:
Regarding all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today...
Acts 26:2 NASB
Whenever I read that verse, my mind does a slight tilt. There’s Paul, in chains, standing before a king who held the power to either execute him or set him free, and the first words out of his mouth were, “I consider myself fortunate.” If it were me, I’d probably have started with something like, “I’m here unjustly accused,” all the while fearing that my head might soon be on the line.
How is it that Paul thought himself fortunate? I wonder if it isn’t because he felt a special connection to Jesus when being persecuted for His Kingdom.
Rejoicing because they were worthy to suffer
The Council accepted his advice, called in the apostles, had them beaten, and then told them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and finally let them go. They left the Council chamber rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer dishonor for his name.
Acts 5:41-42 TLB
In Acts, we find other disciples beaten for the sake of the name of Jesus, and they left that experience rejoicing that they were “worthy to suffer.” What strikes me is not just the suffering they endured, but their response to it. They left that experience rejoicing, recognizing that they were ‘worthy to suffer’ for His name. They weren’t (obviously) rejoicing because they felt physical pain. They rejoiced because they recognized the honor of being counted worthy to stand by Christ in their faith.
Life will place us in fiery furnaces and lions’ dens, and it’s tempting to focus on what’s going wrong. Yet, like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Job, and the disciples in Acts, our calling is to trust God no matter the cost. Suffering is not the point; trusting God is the point. Can we trust when we don’t understand? May we always say “Yes, Lord, yes!”
Even if faith
I’m now in the lions’ den and fiery furnace of visa renewals. And a few days of temper tantrums, I know there is nothing to revert to instead of trusting God. I want to have the “even if” faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I want to have the same silent trust as Daniel, who was thrown to the lions. And I want to have the resilience of Job and say:
Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.
Job 13:15a NASB
In the end, we’re called to reel it in, to trust God even when we don’t understand, even when it costs us everything, as with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and Daniel and Job, who all understood that faith isn’t about the outcome. Faith is living in absolute trust and surrender to the One who is worthy. We can trust Him because He knows the end from the beginning, every twist and turn in between, and His plans are perfect. When life throws us into fiery furnaces or lions’ dens of uncertainty, we can take heart knowing that God walks with us through it all.
If this post encouraged you, you’re welcome to partner with me on A Cultural Shift through Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps keep A Cultural Shift’s outreach going. Thank you.
P.S. Since this was originally posted, I received my four-year visa! It was a process, requiring another long-ish post. For now, I’m just testifying to God’s goodness while the fire burned.
Recommended reading:
If you’re looking for a book that speaks honestly to the pain of unanswered prayers and the hard questions we all face about God’s goodness, I highly recommend Lysa TerKeurst’s It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way. It’s a solid read filled with both hope and reality-checks, not a shallow “everything’s fine” pep talk, but a deeply honest look at how God meets us in the tension between what we expected and what is. Lysa blends her own story with Scripture in a way that invites readers to trust God even when life doesn’t make sense. It’s a book that encourages the heart and strengthens faith in the midst of real struggle.
