WHEN YOU SUFFERনমুনা

IT'S OKAY TO QUESTION GOD 

Have you ever questioned God? I have more than once. When my sister was diagnosed with cancer at 30, my first response was to question God. I angrily cried out, "Why, God? Why did this happen to my sister, who has no risk factors and lives a healthy lifestyle?" I began to question God's nature for the first time and wanted to know why an all-loving, all-powerful God would allow this to happen. Life always creates more questions than we have answers to, and it's okay to question God, especially when you're suffering. 

In the book of Job, Job didn't understand why he was suffering. After all, he was a blameless, upright, and God-fearing man. When God allowed him to suffer by permitting Satan to take his wealth, children, and health, Job vigorously asked to speak with God in desperation and anguish. Job was never condemned for questioning God. When God finally responded to Job's questioning, He did so in a divine-human encounter, out of a mighty storm. He allowed Job a glimpse at the respective places of God and human beings in the universe by asking Job questions that pointed to God's sovereignty. In the beginning, God spoke and created everything. If we don't understand the working of God's creation, we can't know who God is. He made and controls all things. He is sovereign. 

When you question God, do so with a humble spirit, remembering your position before the eternal, incomprehensible, and sovereign God. Recognize who God is and submit to His power and sovereign plan. Are you using what you can't understand as an excuse for your lack of trust? Be willing to trust God despite unanswered questions. He listens to your hard questions and has concern for His creations. You are one of them, and God loves you beyond measure. He knows the big picture! Suffering is difficult, but the result is often a deeper relationship with God. Ask Him how He may be using your suffering for good. Complete restoration from suffering may not be in this life, but it will happen. God delivers those who suffer, if not now, then in the life to come. 

I thank God that my sister is a cancer survivor, twice! 

Footnote: In the picture, Willy Wiedmann drew God coming down from heaven as a triangle speaking to Satan. The picture represents Job 2:3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”