Moving from Why Me to What Do I Need to Learn
Grief is so difficult for us. It causes so many emotions, questions, and complications to surface. Job faced all of them. He was hurting so badly that all he could do was question God, and ask why. (Job 7:20) This is a phase of the grief process that all of us go through when we have great pain and loss. Eventually, we can move from asking why to asking, "What do I need to learn?," if we will seek the Lord, listen, and allow Him to guide us to His hope.
When bad things happen, it is normal to ask God, "Have I sinned?" We want to know the cause of our loss or pain. That is a good question in one way, because sometimes, it is our sin that brings on our suffering. However, Job knew that he had not sinned to cause his pain. If he had, God would have made it clear, so he could repent and confess his sin. Therefore, Job went on to ask, "Why have You set me up as Your target?" We always want to know why, but God knows if He should tell us why or not. Sometimes, we never know why. We have to accept that answer from God, and we have to move to asking, "What do I need to learn from this pain?" Pain and suffering are the great teachers. When we have good times, we learn little, but in our pain we cry out to God, and He can show us great things about ourselves, our world, and others, that will help us the rest of our lives to be more like Jesus. After all, that is His goal, and it should be ours. His goal is not our comfort and happiness, at least, not in this world. That will come to us, when we are with Him, if we know Christ as Lord and Savior.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 8-10.
When bad things happen, it is normal to ask God, "Have I sinned?" We want to know the cause of our loss or pain. That is a good question in one way, because sometimes, it is our sin that brings on our suffering. However, Job knew that he had not sinned to cause his pain. If he had, God would have made it clear, so he could repent and confess his sin. Therefore, Job went on to ask, "Why have You set me up as Your target?" We always want to know why, but God knows if He should tell us why or not. Sometimes, we never know why. We have to accept that answer from God, and we have to move to asking, "What do I need to learn from this pain?" Pain and suffering are the great teachers. When we have good times, we learn little, but in our pain we cry out to God, and He can show us great things about ourselves, our world, and others, that will help us the rest of our lives to be more like Jesus. After all, that is His goal, and it should be ours. His goal is not our comfort and happiness, at least, not in this world. That will come to us, when we are with Him, if we know Christ as Lord and Savior.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 8-10.