WHY, God?
How can a person cope with long-term pain? Get help from someone with personal experience in the article “When Pain Persists”
“Does the clay say to the potter, “What are you making” (Isaiah 45:9)?
German poet Rainer Maria Rike said in a letter, “Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even knowing it, live your way to the answer.”
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In the midst of struggles or pain, my first instinct is to ask “WHY?” I know God has a plan with the huge struggles in my life. But I want to see those results as soon as possible. I don’t want to feel miserable.
I know struggles are growing experiences. I don’t want the growing pains. I just want the growth. I too quickly forget that the journey to growing is the most valuable part. I get so caught up in seeking answers and trying to get to the end result without coming to terms with where I am now, living those questions right now as I have the chance to learn from them.
If God were to give me everything I wanted in the midst of a struggle (like a sign from him, hear his voice loud and clear, for it to be all over, or get a big answer) I would miss out on getting to know him and feeling his hand in mine throughout the whole ordeal.
The poem “Wait” by Russell Kelfer talks specifically about questioning God like this. If you are in the middle of pain or struggle today and you want to know exactly why this is happening to you, read the words to that poem and let it sink in. Right now, God is letting you know Him in a whole new way, even though it is painful. Do you want to give that invaluable experience up just to get answers?
“I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You’d have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.
You’d not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.”
(From “Wait” by Russell Kelfer)
Questions: What questions should you stop asking and start living?
Tags: miserable, pain, painful, patience, potter, Rainer Maria Rike, Russell Kelfer, Sarah Fleischman, struggles, wait
10 Responses to “WHY, God?”
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Thanks for that quote Sarah….so very true. Just today I was listening to a song by Scott Wesley Brown ‘When Answers Aren’t Enough’in which he says that when answers aren’t enough there is still Jesus. What a good reminder.
Funny that I wrote this devotional several months ago and practically forgot about it until now. I wrote this at the beginning of what is now a long string of events that still make me question why. I am encouraged by all of your comments and I am convicted/challenged by this message as much as you all are.
I hope that you do not seek answers to the why questions as much as you seek His presence during those hard times.
“You can’t stop the bleeding heart with reason and answers. When a person is suffering, all they want to know is that Daddy is here.” (Joni Eareckson Tada)
I, too, googled “Wait” and was very blessed in reading this poem. I have been blessed by reading each of your posts, and I can so relate to you, Lillian. God is and has been teaching me patience through suffering, as well as growing me as a more whole person in Jesus. I am learning each day to ask the Lord what He wants me to learn in painful situations instead of trying to pray them away.
Thank you so much each one for your comments. And God bless you, Sarah, for this wonderful post.
I am in the middle of it all. I have been angry at God asking why me everyone seems to be enjoying. Last week I tried something Joseph tried while in jail. Trying to let somebody help him out. He was forgotten for another 2 years. When I tried it, it became more bitter. I am now trying to figure out how to get out of the mess again. This is devotion is true. May be God is developing patience in me – something I have realised I do not have.
I google the poem and it’s incredible! I should stop asking God when the struggles will be over and simply enjoy the journey as He told me to and wait patiently to learn what He has for me to learn in this season of my life!!
“You d not know the power that I give to the faint”. Its a mystery cos I’v got to the point of giving up but where I always find strength to continue or make a U turn? I don’t know.
Thanks for this,it has realy blessed my soul.
I had to google the entire poem and WOW!!!! So accurate!
Hello I needed to read this message above because I am surely struggling with a few things right now. I pray that I should not rush to get the answer but enjoy the growth process.
This really speaks to me as I’ve been wanting to know why I’m in the midst of difficult circumstances. God knows I have little patience and now I see that
this is something he is developing in me. That and learning to let go and live in the moment.
Thanks for your devotional.
WOW! This is a powerful devotional, Sarah! Thank you so much! I never thought someone could inspire me to desire pain in my life, but you have done so with this post, Sarah ~ anything that will help me to know my Lord in a deeper, truer way! I know that I tend to pray pain away, rather than seeking God’s purpose in my trouble, seeking what He wants me to learn and understand. Thank you so much for this! I have been blessed beyond measure this morning, and I am grateful!