The Answer to "Why?"

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

II Corinthians 1:3,4

Some simple questions just don't have simple answers.  "Why?" is one of those questions.  Many a sermon has been devoted to this one word everyone at some point has asked God, and basically all of those sermons come to the same conclusion: we don't know why, but God does and we must simply trust Him.

Although this is 100% true, there is another dimension to the answer to Why? that I stumbled across just today.  It is found in II Corinthians 1:3,4.  Trusting God to work on the supernatural, infinite level is one side of the coin, but there is something you can do on your limited, finite side!

I. "The God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation"  We have no capability to provide ourselves with lasting comfort.  David said, "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4b).  David found his comfort in the leading hand of God in his life, and so did Paul.  If the Lord has led you to this valley, He will surely being you through it.  It would be totally against the nature of your Heavenly Father to drag you into a dark valley and leave you.  In fact, that's completely impossible.  So when you begin to ask "Why?" turn to the Word of God for comfort and you will not be disappointed.

II.  "That we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."  Here lies the reason why you go through what you go through:  So you can be a blessing to someone else who will soon go through the same thing!  After you plug into the power source that keeps you going through tough times, show others how to find that same power source!  Comfort them with the same strength and grace that you have found in Christ.

That's the whole purpose of this blog!  I have been at the end of my rope, and I have experienced the God of all comfort lifting me up when I had no more strength left.  I have discovered that His grace really is sufficient, and is made perfect in weakness.  Come to find out, the command "Be strong" is followed quickly by "in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (II Timothy 2:1) and that means I can rely on His strength to make it through any hardship.

I have asked "Why?" and although God doesn't always give me the answer I want right away, He has given me an answer.  Instead of allowing yourself to become impatient, bitter, and angry, concentrate on what you can learn from your circumstances.  When you come across someone who is struggling just like you did, you will be prepared to share your source of strength with them.