Why?

 

It is the plaintive cry of anyone who has faced persecution. It is the plea for justice when evil is perpetrated upon the innocent. It is the yearning for answers in a world that does not make sense.

 

Evil is everywhere. Turn on the television, and almost every headline story is about violence or some variation of man’s inhumanity to man. Some will say that an all-loving God could not possibly allow evil, and therefore, He could not be all-powerful. Conversely, if God were truly all-powerful, He would not allow evil and suffering to exist, therefore, He could not be all-loving. But this is wrong and assumes that God would never use evil and suffering to accomplish His purposes. In the greatest act of love this universe has ever witnessed, God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the Cross. As He hung on the Cross, tortured and dying, the weight of all sins, past, present, and future, was placed upon Him. This cry went up from His lips as He experienced the separation from God the Father. It was a separation that only sin could produce. God used this most heinous act to accomplish His purpose. 

 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

Psalms 22:1 (ESV)

 

To the immediate cry of His only Son, God did not answer Him.  But He did answer by His actions and power. He glorified His Son and revealed His plan to reconcile the world to Him by raising Jesus Christ from the dead. The next Psalm shows us what God will do when we place our trust in Him.

 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalms 23:1-6

 

God does not tell us all the reasons why we face troubles and turmoil, and He is under no obligation to do so.  But He promises to lead us out of the morass as the Good Shepherd, restoring our souls and giving us peace. We may not understand all the reasons for evil, but we do know how it will end, with the triumphant return of Jesus Christ and the end of all pain, tears, and suffering.

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.