Reflections On HopeSýnishorn

The question “Why?” is one of our earliest responses when things in our world go wrong, as anyone who has children knows well! But it’s a complex question. On one level it asks for causes.

When we ask “Why?” we are more often interested in purpose. And to that there is no easy answer. But an important part of a Christian understanding is that our world is not the way it should be, nor the way it will be. We, along with our whole world, are in the middle of a much bigger story which begins with Creation and heads towards Re- Creation. And we, as people who have already made God our king, have an important role in that process.

But caught in the middle of the story, one of our most authentic responses is to join in Creation’s lament (vv:22-23), as does the Spirit Himself (v:26). This startling fact opens us up to the most important Christian response to the “Why?“ question, but that deserves another whole meditation in itself.

For people of faith, answering the “Why?” question is closely tied up with God’s goodness. Why does a God is who is all-good and all-powerful allow suffering? Many answers are offered, many of them helpful, but none truly satisfactory. Yes, God wants us to grow individually, and our experience is part of his larger plan which works through suffering to glory.

But the deepest response is not an answer to the “Why?” question at all. It is to realise that in Jesus, God has joined us in the middle of our desperate plight. God is with us.