Why, God…why did you let this happen? You could have done something! Why didn’t you?

Heartbreak sends us to our knees, begging God for answers. If only we understood his purpose in heartbreak…

Have you been there, devastated by calamity, crying out for an explanation? Well-meaning comforters sometimes pour on the guilt, saying we shouldn’t ask why.

Asking why actually puts us in good company.

Asking why actually puts us in good company. Click To Tweet

Moses said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all” (Exodus 5:22b-23).

Joshua said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of Jordan!”(Joshua 7:7).

Gideon, when the angel of the Lord appeared to him assuring him the Lord was with him, said, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of the Midian” (Judges 6:12-13).

Job in his anguish said, “If I have sinned, what have I don’t to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins?” (Job 7:20-21a). “Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me. If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!” (Job 10:18-19).

Jesus on the cross cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Yes…asking why puts us in good company.

Asking why is a normal response to heartbreak.

Asking why is a normal response to heartbreak. Click To Tweet

I’ve come to this conclusion: asking why is not a problem as long as we’re content without an explanation and willing to leave the matter in God’s almighty hands.

Life’s big question: why does God allow evil? No one has a satisfactory answer.

In his book The Journey, Billy Graham wrote, “…I don’t fully have the answer. I have had to accept by faith that even in the face of great evil, God is still sovereign, and He is still loving and merciful and compassionate.”

That’s our challenge in heartbreak: believing God is loving, merciful, and compassionate.

We know he is because he said so. “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (see Exodus 34:6-7).

Our circumstances do not alter God’s character.

He is still full of love, mercy, and compassion—enough to carry us through heartbreak, although he may never answer our whys.

Have you asked God why? I’d appreciate your leaving a comment—and please share this with friends why are asking why.

© Dianne Barker 2018