WHY? Daily Devotional - December 28, 2009

Daily Bible Reading: Job 38, Zechariah 13-14, Revelation 15-16


My daughter just turned Four and she is at that wonderful age where she asks one question over and over again: WHY? Pick up your toys. WHY? Eat the rest of your dinner. WHY? Caterpillars turn into butterflies. WHY?

I’ll admit at times I have been that parent who just simply replies "because I said so." I usually prefer to answer her "whys", but my reasoning for resorting to the default-parent-answer is because A) She is too young and immature to understand the complicated explanation. B) I have already told them the answer and I am tired of repeating myself, or C) It’s about teaching her trust and obedience and it really is because I said so. [There might be a small "d" category that is the rare occasion I just don't know the answer... ;) Ha ha.]

We have been reading through the book of Job and back in Chapter 31, (vs 5) Job wanted some answers from God. I don’t blame him. At this point, he is experience great suffering and is asking God to answer that question we have all asked him during points of our suffering, "WHY?"

Now in Chapter 38, God finally answers him...sort of. God never directly answers his question but He reminds Job of his amazing sovereignty, divine power and complete wisdom. He replies to Job through rhetorical questions such as, " (vs 4) Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?...( Vs 12) Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn it’s place?... (vs 35) Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you ‘Here we are’?...(vs 36) Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?"

Sometimes when we are going through a difficult time, we don’t really need an answer. We don’t need to know or understand why, but we simply need to be reminded that God is God and He has it all in control. Maybe we aren’t mature enough spiritually to understand the complicated explanation, maybe He already explained it to us and we just aren’t listening or maybe it’s just simply about learning to trust and obey. We may or may not find out why we go through some of the things we do, but the most important thing is that we trusted him whether we understood or not!

Thanks for reading!
Mel

Tomorrow’s reading: Job 39, Malachi 1, Revelation 17-18