Asking the why

This year has been a difficult start to the year for me even before we were hit with this pandemic. And yes, while it has been hard it has been so great. This is down to many factors including the use of a healthy perspective, which I spoke about in my last post.

This year I purchased my first car on the 6^th of January, brand new, and I was so excited. We were still figuring out all of the details around the ownership and payments and what the future of this new car would look like. On the 6^th of February, on its one-month anniversary, I was involved in a serious car accident that led to the car being written off. On top of that insurance turned down our claim and are refusing to pay us out.

I think any of our first reactions would be to ask… why did this have to happen? What is the reason for this?

I believe its human nature to always have to understand and make sense of things. We are rarely comfortable with not having an answer to a situation or circumstance, and we feel the need to always create a meaning for it. We are constantly searching for meaning and when it’s not apparent we feel the need to try explaining some meaning into the situation.

When things go wrong, we are always looking for the reason as to why. Why did this happen to us? Why did this have to happen now? Why?

I don’t believe there is anything wrong with asking questions and seeking meaning but in our incessant pursuit for the answer to the why we land up leaving no room for faith. I believe we are all on our own journeys, and through these journeys we all face times of uncertainty and hardship. These times are often not for us to have to find an explanation to why these events are occurring or why we are experiencing them, but it is an opportunity to focus our gaze back upon God. The truth is we often won’t always know the why.

Trusting in God without knowing all the answers can be difficult and scary, but this is when we learn to exercise our faith and trust in Him. Leaning on God for answers and understanding, which may not be the answers and understanding we are hoping for, allows us to draw in closer to Him and feel the comfort of His embrace.

Sometimes all we need is to place our trust in God and to let Him guide us through the storm. This is not something that comes naturally to us and is something that requires intentionality and practice. We love to solve our own problems and give them meaning, and sometimes the meaning is not the reason we are experiencing a certain circumstance. Sometimes all it is is an opportunity to connect with the maker of the universe.

“Life is not a problem to be solved, it is an adventure to be lived” – John Elderedge.

Trials are not always there for us to make meaning of but are there to help us grow and mature. They are there to help us fix our eyes back upon God and centre our lives on Him. And throughout these trials we need to find ways to praise Him and learn to make life an adventure again.

We need to focus not on what we don’t know but on what we do know, which is the unfailing love of a God that longs for a personal relationship with each one of us.

I hope that we can, even in times like these, come to a place where we find peace in not knowing the answers to every question and find comfort in our faith and trusting of the Lord.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”