Who? What? When? Where?

Sometimes life is just hard, and we find ourselves asking "why?"  Why did this happen?  Why did things turn out like that?  Why did it have to be me?  It's natural for us to ask these questions.  We want to know everything, and we want to know the reason for everything.  Sometimes, the unknowns can drive us crazy.  We tend to think that we will feel better or have closure if we just get an answer to this one simple question.  However, I don't think it is that simple.  I have two thoughts about this question that come from completely different angles.

My first idea is that asking "why?" can be helpful.  Sometimes we are fortunate enough to find an answer to why things happen.  When this occurs, having those answers can help us to make sense of some difficult things in life.  I think about it sort of like a puzzle.  At first you just have this one piece that doesn't make any sense, but after gathering more pieces, you have a clearer picture of your situation.  In this way, finding answers to this question can bring understanding, perspective, or closure.  This helps us to move past our uncertainty.  I believe that it also gives us some insight into how God works in our lives.  It is always amazing to look back on an event or situation and see how He had the entire plan in mind when we were still in the dark.

My second thought about this pesky question is that it can be quite detrimental.  Oftentimes, once it has entered our minds, we cannot stop asking "why?"  The question remains until we have an answer.  The problem here is that we don't always get an answer.  There are some things that we will never understand.  If we allow this to bother us, it can cause doubt to creep into our minds.  This is where trust comes into the picture.  I have found that I really don't need all of my questions answered because I know that God has a plan.  I have confidence in the fact that God is good and that He loves us more than we can imagine.  I also believe that He works for the good of those who love Him.  With that in mind, I can fearlessly say that I don't know why certain things happen.  I will never have all of the answers, and I think there is probably a reason for that too.  God has given me the confidence to be comfortable with ignorance.  Instead of asking Him why something has occurred in my life, I choose to trust His unfailing judgment.