Living with the unanswered why
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Reflections
Michael J. Brooks
It was on a trip to Washington for a Southern Baptist seminar that our group rode the capitol subway to an event.
At our stop a U.S. senator was waiting to board. I immediately recognized him and walked over to say hello.
He asked what our group was doing in D.C. He was also aware of some tornadoes in Alabama the week before and asked me how search, rescue and cleanup was going.
This was the only time I met and talked with Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who died of an aortic dissection July 11.
My sister suffered an aortic aneurysm last October. Fortunately, the aorta didn’t tear as it did in Graham’s case, and after open-heart surgery in Chattanooga, she’s strong and well.
These events reminded me how we wrestle with the deepest theological questions about the will of God. Why do good people suffer? Why do some people suffer and die and other people recover and live?
These questions are as old as the book of Job in the Old Testament. And we, like Job, don’t get a clear answer.
God basically told Job that some things are beyond his understanding, known only to the Lord.
We know that some suffering is explicable and preventable.
For example, according to website plainroadsafety.com, most automobile fatalities come about because of impaired driving (alcohol and drugs), excessive speed, not wearing seat belts, and distractions, including using the phone, fidgeting with controls, or eating while driving – all preventable.
Most of us also know that unhealthy eating can make us unhealthy.
Other suffering is inexplicable.
After my bladder cancer three years ago, I quizzed the surgeon about the cause. He said cigarettes were the number one cause, and second-hand smoke was the second. When I asked about the third, since the first two didn’t apply, he admitted he didn’t know.
Much of life is shrouded in mystery. Even the Apostle Paul lamented an affliction and prayed it be removed.
His well-known “thorn in the flesh” could’ve been poor eyesight, malaria, continuing injuries from his stoning in Lystra, or a tortured memory as he considered those he’d arrested for the crime of following Jesus as messiah.
Whatever it was, the Lord chose not to remove it, but to let it be a means of grace. Paul grew more humble and recognized his dependence on God for daily strength.
Thus, a mysterious affliction became a mechanism for blessing.
We yet struggle for answers that we may not get this side of heaven. But we can be assured that God has a plan for each of us.
And we’re grateful for our Christian friends who love and pray for us in times of need.
Michael J. Brooks, pastor of Siluria Baptist Church in Alabaster and former Judson College faculty member, writes a weekly faith column. Visit siluriabaptist.com.
