“No, we can’t go to the park and play.” “Why mommy?” “We have to stay in the house.” “Why?” “It’s a new rule.” “But why, mommy?” “We might get sick if we go out.” “Why?” If you are a parent with toddlers and have been confined to your house for weeks, you probably feel like your brain will explode if you hear “why” one more time.
Yet, whether in a pandemic or everyday life, ‘why’ is an inherent element of the human nature. By the time children can make complete sentences, they have integrated ‘why’ into their development process. As they grow, it leads to new questions—how, when, who, what, where, etc. One child psychologist says between the ages of two and five children will ask around 40,000 questions. However, they don’t stop, nor should they stop at a certain age. Instead, our questions become more advanced and complex. All formal education programs should stimulate curiosity that leads the student to ask more questions in some form or another whether to a person, a book, or their own reasoning abilities.
But then you come into the church and someone hears you ask, “Why God?” In some circles you might receive a severe reprimand by some well-meaning saint. “You don’t dare ask God ‘why’. That’s a terrible sin. You have to trust and never question Him!” Such a statement comes out of ignorance from someone who obviously hasn’t carefully studied the Bible. They could begin by reading Jesus’ question to the Father (Matt 27:45). “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Questioning the Lord is not wrong. However, we must always come with respect and honor, remembering who God is. He is the sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient creator knowing the beginning to end. He is long-suffering with our sinful world. Yet, we can’t forget His righteousness includes justice. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne (Ps 89:14). The Lord’s warns sinful people and gives many chances to repent. But His patience will run out. We don’t know when that point will come, and He pours out His justice and wrath on people, cities, or nations. We must remember in His wisdom He works out his plan according to his timetable. A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy (Pro 29:1 NIV).
Note a few Bible characters who asked God ‘why’. Moses, Why have you given me this burden to carry these people (Num11:9-11)? Joshua, Why, if you are so Sovereign, did you bring us here only to have us face this hardship (Josh 7:7)? David, Why do you seem to stand afar off and hide Yourself in times of trouble (Ps10:1-2)? [rf. Psalm 42:9-10; 43:2; 44:23; 74:1, 11; Jeremiah 14:19; 15:18]. No book illustrates better that it is permissible to question God than the Book of Habakkuk. In fact, the entire book is a dialogue between Habakkuk and the Lord with the prophet asking God why He is using a heathen nation like Babylon to punish His people. But the backdrop is the apostasy of the nation. Jehoiakim the king of Judah had led the people back into idolatry and away from the Lord. After repeated warnings and opportunities to repent, God was preparing to judge the nation.
Already Judah was suffering hardships from the first two invasions by Babylon. Their crops, the figs, grapes, and olives, had been taken or destroyed. Annual crops, wheat, oats, and barley were gone. Their sheep and cattle were dead. The prophet wrestled with the appropriateness of God, using a wicked nation to judge his own people. In his first prayer he asked, O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you Violence! and you will not save? (1:2 ESV)? His second complaint, You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he (2:13 ESV)?
The Lord never answers Habakkuk questions but reminds him, the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him (2:20 NIV). The prophet didn’t lash out at God in anger: He does not say, “God, you have no right to destroy your people!” Habakkuk reminds himself of who the Lord is and responds, I heard, and I trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress to come against the people invading us (3:16 ESV).
In an act of worship and commitment to God, Habakkuk comes to a powerful conclusion. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength (3:17-19 NIV).
Sustaining Word for the Week: Why mommy? Why daddy? And it’s OK in reverence to ask, “Why God?” He may answer, but if He doesn’t, worship the Lord and rejoice in the Lord, be joyful in God your Savior.