By Chris WittsSunday 18 Aug 2024Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
In Part 1, I asked the question, Why me? Why is it that people sometimes have this feeling, Why am I being picked on? Why is God allowing all this to happen?
- Read Why Me? – Part 1
God’s answer is that we are not victims but victors. God has said that we can trust him in everything and that every event in our lives should be counted as all joy (James 1:2). He has also told us that he will cause good to come out of every situation for those who love him (Romans 8:28). When we ask Why me, God? it’s really because we don’t believe God. Our belief system opposes God, so we feel singled out and victimised.
Most of us believe, at least on some level, that we need to understand everything. We just need to know why. When we don’t, we may feel God has betrayed us in some way. In reality, it’s not God who is confusing us or betraying us, it is our belief system. All those inconsistent, partially correct beliefs cause us to question God’s fairness in what we are experiencing.
For example, somewhere in our belief system, we may have come to believe that we deserve to be blessed because we have been diligent to honour God, been a good person, fed the hungry, or helped our neighbour. We often believe that the things we do should keep us from harm’s way. Then when something bad happens, we are confused and ask God why.
Changing our thinking
When something happens that deeply touches us, we often ask, Why me, God? We are quick to judge the event as good or bad. What if we were to eliminate the possibility that anything that happens to us is inherently bad and chose to believe that everything that happens to us is always good? Impossible, you say? It has to be one or the other, doesn’t it?
Belief systems are changeable. When we discover that something we have believed, even for a long time, is no longer valid, can we not simply change our mind and fully embrace the new? If you are crying out, Why me, God? you must believe there is a God out there who hears you and you have hoped he would answer you. Maybe there was a time when you didn’t believe there was a God at all. If you changed your mind and opened your life to God, then you can also change your mind about judging events as being bad for you.
When we choose to believe that all the events in our life are good for us, even the ones that seem frustrating and painful for now, we are agreeing with God! When we choose to believe and trust God that there will always be a good outcome, we are trusting him! Only God knows why we are going through these circumstances. Our new dialogue with God will be, God, this is going to be an interesting journey. I’m excited to see how you are going to bring good out of this one. I trust you will!
God is in control
God often uses the events in our lives to do a work in the life of someone else. The truth is that we all tend to have a very small world view. Our world revolves around us and because everything in our personal world affects us, we forget that we are not the cause and effect of everything. The reality is that we are one of millions of human beings making decisions every second. Every one of those decisions affects the world, while only some of them affect us directly.
We are not in control. God is in control and nothing happens apart from him. Nothing changes except if proceeds from him. In Genesis we read how God created all things, set them in their place, gave them direction, and set them into motion in perfect harmony and balance. No matter how many free-will decisions are made every second, everything remains in God’s balance. Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word…” No individual can throw the universe into disorder. God is always in control.
Life isn’t always fair in our eyes, but God is always fair. We are not victims in this life. We are unconditionally and passionately loved by our Father God. Perhaps when we are feeling distressed and we ask, Why me? his answer might be, Trust me, I love you. I am working everything out for your good!
The lesson of Job
A man in the Bible named Job asked, Why me, God? He enjoyed a good life. He was favoured of God and blameless in God’s sight. Satan, not being omniscient, was seemingly not aware of Job’s existence until one day 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” (Job 1:8).
God allowed Satan to inflict personal extreme pain and suffering on Job. Because God knew Job, and knew he had chosen to love God no matter what, the Lord allowed Job’s faith to be sorely tested. He permitted Satan to kill Job’s family, plunder his land and cattle, and destroy everything Job held dear in the earth.
What is the lesson? God demonstrated to Satan (and to us) that those whose hearts are truly turned to God, serve God, and love God passionately, cannot be turned away from God by any of Satan’s tactics. God knew Job, his strengths and weaknesses, and he knew that Job was strong enough to go through everything Satan could unleash. Job, through God’s strength, made it through his circumstances. Job understood that a person can lose everything they have, but when we belong to God, we have everything we need.
Job didn’t do anything wrong. He was a servant of God, he loved God, and he was loved by God. Job’s story is about trusting God for a good outcome, even while going through dire circumstances. Does that mean that all the bad things that happen in our lives are a ‘Job’ event? Not necessarily. Job’s lesson was passed down so we would know that God will bring about a good result for those who love him, who steadfastly trust him in all circumstances.
Are you totally trusting God in your circumstances? Do you believe his ways are always just and fair? Do you trust that his plans for you are for good and not for evil? If so, share those feelings with God.
Prayer:
Dear Father, I trust you. I believe that you are in control of my life and that you allowed this circumstance to enter my life. I trust that you have a good result planned. Teach me to lean less on my own understanding and more on you. In Jesus’ name, amen.