Why wont the girls go to sleep better?
Why does my attitude have to be so bad?
Why can’t I figure this problem out?
Why can’t I get along with this person?
Why did God make me the way I am?
Why does it seem everyone can handle more than me?
Friends, my list could go on forever. It seems my first response to a problem is the question why? As if maybe the answer would solve all the problems and pain. One of my recent questions has been why does God have me here. I didn’t understand why I was in a certain situation. I wanted out. One day when I was praying about it God really laid on my heart you don’t have to understand why you are somewhere, just be there.
Instead of trying to figure everything out, there is so much freedom in dwelling on what we do know. We know that God is good. We know He loves us. We know He will never forsake us. We know He will give us wisdom and strength when we ask for it. We know He will never allow us to go through something more than we can bear with His help.
The problem comes in when I begin asking why. When I try to figure out why, it takes my eyes off the truth from God an onto my own concocted solutions. God says in His ways are unsearchable and His thoughts so far above ours.
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55: 8-9
The less I dwell on the why and the more I dwell on God, the more progress I make. Focusing on the why gets me stuck because we are never going to completely figure everything out. Focusing on “what’s next Lord” gives me direction and brings peace. Asking what’s next does not negate our feelings, instead it brings them to light and asks God for help in them.
Dwelling on why leads to doubt and confusion. Focusing on asking what now leads us down the path of handling our feelings, fears, and questions in a healthy way.
“You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.” -Isaiah 26:3
