Being Okay With Not Knowing Why
I still consider myself to be a curious person, but I find that a lot of times, my questions have to do more with why God allows something bad to happen. I know that God is good, but when trials come, I can’t help but ask “Why?”
Even though I know I live in a fallen world and that I’m not immune to suffering in this life, I still think that God owes me a pain-free life. As a Christian, I’m often tempted to believe that my obedience to God and my desire to honor Him with my life should result in God always giving me good things. So when life is going well, it feels easy to praise God and rejoice in Him. But when life becomes hard, I instantly find myself asking God “Why?”
It’s important to remember that there is nothing wrong with asking God “Why?” There are several times in the Psalms where David questions God. For example, David asks God in Psalm 42:9, “Why have you forgotten me?” And in Psalm 10:1, David cries, “Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide in times of trouble?” David’s words in the Psalms remind us that we can come to God with our questions. But the honest and hard truth is that when we come to God with our questions, we will not always get answers. We might not always know why God allows something to happen. There are times when we look back on seasons of suffering and might see why we were meant to walk through that trial. But there are other times when we just don’t know why.
Like me, you might find yourself trying to justify why you deserve to be free from suffering when it happens. Or you might wrestle with God’s character when you experience pain, accusing God of not being good or just. But instead of trying to justify ourselves or accusing God, we can allow our questions of “why” to encourage us to cling to what we know to be true. God does not leave us without any answers for our suffering. While the Bible does not always give us a reason for our suffering it does tell us what God is doing in our suffering. Consider the following verses:
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.”
- Psalm 34:17–18
“Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
- James 1:2–4
“Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”
- James 1:12
“Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.”
- Revelation 21:3–4
What do these verses tell us?
They tell us that God hears our cries, plans to rescue us from our troubles, and is near to us in our pain.
They tell us that God uses trials to grow our faith, to teach us endurance, and mature us spiritually.
They tell us that our trials are but temporary, and on the other side of trials is eternal life with God.
They tell us that one day, God will remove all suffering forever. And we will dwell with God in a world made new.
So even though we might not know the exact reason for trials on this side of eternity, we can cling to what we know to be true about who God is and what He is doing in our suffering. Knowing these things about God might not take the sting away from suffering. They might not fully satisfy our questions. But they do give us hope in the midst of our pain, helping us cling to certainty amidst the ambiguity of our afflictions. Even though we might not know the answer to the why of our suffering, we do know the answers to what God does and who He is. And that can put our questioning minds to rest.
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