When life doesn't make sense
- Jacob Ninan
However knowledgeable we are, there may be times in our life when something doesn't make any sense to us. In his days Job was the most godly man on earth, and God certified about him to Satan (Job.1:8). But when God permitted Satan to test Job with destruction of his children and property all of a sudden, Job was confounded. The general understanding of those days was that only bad people suffered calamities and good people always enjoyed blessings. Obviously Job's experience didn't fit into that explanation. His friends concluded that there must be some secret sin in Job's life because of which God was punishing him, but Job was flabbergasted because he knew he was blameless before God.
Hardly any of us has had experiences of the same magnitude as Job. But we too may come across situations when we can't make out just what is going on. Why are we suffering from some sickness even though we know God is able to heal us? Why is God not intervening in our situation even though we have asked Him umpteen times? Why does God allow some wicked man to cause us suffering even though we haven't done anything wrong to him? Our mental struggle is all the more when we see some others getting answers to their prayers, and experiencing miraculous healing and supernatural protection from suffering. Think of what James' family would have gone through after he was killed by Herod, especially after they heard that God had sent an angel to set Peter free (Acts.12:2,11).
However much knowledge we may obtain, there will still be situations like these where we can't get the answers. The wise thing is to expect that we won't ever get all the answers we will need while we are still on the earth, and to stop hitting our heads against a wall which is not going to move. 'Why?' is a question that God chooses not to answer most of the time, possibly because He wants us to learn to walk by faith and not by sight (2Co.5:7). A better question, and for which we can expect an answer, is, "What now, Lord?" He can tell us what to do now, and how to walk by faith here.
In this case we can see that walking by faith means to have faith in God as One who is Almighty and able to do anything He wants, and who loves us with an unconditional love, and then to leave God to His wisdom to decide what will be most glorious for His name and eternally the best for us. Isn't this what is implied when we pray that His name should be hallowed and His will should be done and then ask for things we need (Mt.6:9-11)? 'Faith' is not mustering up enough positive thoughts to believe that God is going to answer our prayers.
In choosing to live by faith we recognise our limitations in wisdom and knowledge but attribute to God infinite wisdom and knowledge that are tuned towards us because of His great love for us. Those who come out of suffering in this manner obtain a much greater reward in heaven than others who got their problems resolved while on earth!