Friday, 10/5/18 – Tough Question

“Why?”

From Star Trek to Dr. Who or Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, War Games or Jumanji, Dark Star or Red Dwarf, The Runaways or The Prisoner — sci-fi is replete with mastermind computers experiencing meltdown because the hero asks it one simple unsolvable question, “Why?”

Listen to any four or five year old and soon will begin their unending quest of prior causes… “Why is A B?” “Well, because B C.” “Why is B C?” “Because C D” “Then why is…” You get the idea. One study reports that a typical preschooler asks some 288 questions per day! I’m sure that “Why?” tops the list!

When personal tragedy strikes, or as we observe the woes of this world, we cry out “Why?” “Why” this inner angst?… “Why” this empty spot in the soul?… “Why” am I here, only to live a brief moment, then die? Was Shakespeare right? Is life no more than “a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing?” Is this all there is? Shall we, as the song says, “just keep dancing….. just break out the booze and have a ball?”

“Why?” can drive people crazy. “Why?” can cause mortals to melt down too.

The pastor of a large church I attended some forty-something years ago now once stated,

“The Christian knows what life is all about and what he is supposed to do with it.” – Pastor Michael P. Horban, Elim Tabernacle, Saskatoon, SK.

His words initially shook me, but as I pondered, I realized they were true!

God created us simply because He wanted someone to love, and someone to love Him. God loving us is Blessedness… us loving God is Worship. That happy relationship is our purpose. As The Westminster Catechism summarises well, we were made “to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

But we wandered away.

Solomon, like Neil Young, went “searching for a heart of gold.” He concluded, “God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Now our situation is better reflected by Augustine: “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” – Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions.

In Christ, God has answered the “Why?” question. It is the same answer He gave to Job. It is not at all the answer we had expected. In fact, we’ve had the question all wrong too. We’ve been like the preschooler asking “Why doesn’t the sky fall down?” The question must change before any answer is possible.

The question is not “Why?” but “Who?”

The Answer is “I AM.”

I know… right now it may not seem like an answer at all! But it is. Does it disturb you that you cannot get your mind around God? I would think it should disturb you more if you could!

Ah, but you can get your heart around Him – and He is able to reside within it. Ask with your heart, not your mind. Look for a Person, not a statement. He is the only way to prevent melt-down.

Got a question? Use the Contact page and send It to me. We’ll search the Word for God’s answer.