Why Is This Happening? The Desire to Know the Purpose of God

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Why Is This Happening?

The Desire to Know the Purpose of God

Introduction: Last week we talked about the importance of trials in the life of a Christian. Tribulations produce patience, patience produces a proven character, and character produces hope. The primary message of Hebrews is that suffering is the only path to glory. Of course, that is not to say that living the Christian life is full of misery, but that suffering and severe trials will be part of that life. Paul said, “We must go through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

Our challenge is, making sense of our trials and getting through them in a godly manner. James said, “Let patience have its perfect work.” Letting the trial teach us is the challenge. Our next two lessons will help us answer those questions.

In this lesson, How do we make sense of a trial. Every person in a trial eventually asks the question of, “Why?” Job asked that question repeatedly and humans have repeatedly believed they have the answer. From the time of Job, religious and non-religious people have guessed at why bad and good events happen. And most of the time, God gets all the blame.

• When something good or bad happens, it is said, “It was just meant to be.” Or, “It was God’s will.”
• Others will directly blame God our ask, “Why did God take my child away from me?”
• Still others say, “God is trying to give me a message.”

Every time I hear the these kinds of statements I always wonder, “How do you know? What gives you such surety in your conclusions about things that are beyond human knowledge?” And more importantly, “Does the Bible reveal anything about a way to discover this inside information?”

1. Job and the Question of “Why?”
   1. 3:12 “Why did the knees receive me?”
   2. 3:20 “Why is light given to him who suffers?”
   3. 7:19-21 “Will You never turn away? Have I sinned? Why have You set me as your target? Why don’t You pardon my transgression.” Notice especially the wrong assumptions Job made here. He is grasping for answers and so he begins guessing about what may be going on. He assumes God is the cause and that God will not give him relief. If sin is the problem, why not just forgive me and let’s go on with life?
   4. 13:20-24 In not understanding “why,” Job now begins to make some deals with God. “Okay, God, just stop the pain so that I am not so afraid all the time, and then, simply call, explain what You want me to do, and I will do it.” Now that sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Verse 23 again shows Job’s frustration in not understanding what the problem is. Notice that Job is now dictating how God should respond.
   5. Job illustrates the times in our lives where we are most interested in the answer to the question of “Why?” It is when we are in pain. It is when we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. We want to know answers to tough decisions, which always take place during a trial. We want to know if everything is going to turn out okay or whether our trial is going to end badly. We simply want guidance and answers. [Sad story of the young woman who had stage 4 cancer and kept believing God was giving her dreams and signs that she would survive.]
   6. How did God answer Job’s questions? Look at Job 38:1-7. And the questions continue through chapter 41. When God was done, he never did answer Job’s questions. But God, what is the answer to Job’s questions? God still never answered, and what is especially important to understand is that the worst thing God could have done is give Job an answer. The very things religious people today are seeking in the way of answers and specialized guidance are what the story of Job and the rest of scriptures tell us God will not answer because it would not be good for us! 
2. Man Cannot Find Out the Work Done Under the Sun
   1. Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, 14
      1. The point of these 14 pairs of “times” in the life of an individual is that (1) we have no control over them, and (2) we have no idea when each of these events will happen. 
      2. Verse 11 shows us that this happens so that, “man cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” But why would God not want us to know the events and outcome of events in life? Verse 14 gives the answer: “God has done it so that people fear before him.” In other words, God does not show us the future or given us specialized guidance in our decisions because he wants us to simply trust him. God has already given us the principles by which we should make decisions. Plus, we are commanded to not worry about tomorrow because God will take care of us. Therefore, we do not need to know; we need to trust. 
   2. Ecclesiastes 8:16 – 9:2. This text pointedly tells us that it is impossible to “find out the work that is done under the sun.” Since the same event happens to everyone whether righteous or unrighteous, we cannot know or make any determinations as to what God’s work is, his love or hatred of any person based on what we can see or the events of this life. This is exactly why Paul said, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” 
3. Did God Do It?
   1. It is typical for people today, especially religious people, to ascribe everything that happens to God. This is even uttered when something terrible happens. Someone will say, “God must have a purpose for this to happen.” Or, “It must have been God’s will.” But is that the answer? Let’s notice five reasons why various events happen in life.
   2. Satan did it (Job 1:13-19). Satan used wicked people and even what we call natural calamities to destroy Job’s livestock, his servants, and even his 10 children. According to Daniel 10, Satan uses evil spirits to start wars and bring calamity upon the world. But how many times do we factor in this possibility? How many times do we say to ourselves, “Satan is trying to make things tough on me – He thinks I will cave in and give up.”
   3. God did it (Gen. 45:5-7). We sometimes call this “providence.” God uses the actions of people both good and bad to bring about his will. Isaiah 10:5-7, God used Assyria to punish Israel without completely destroying it, which at the time was not in its heart to do.
   4. Cause and effect. This is the principle of the book of Proverbs. “He who returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house” (Pro.17:13) “Do not love sleep or you will become poor; open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food” (Pro.20:13). We are constantly making choices in our lives. Most of the time we do so with little thought, which sometimes even the most minor decisions can create major problems in years to come. In fact, the consequences may come so far in the future we may not be able to trace it back to one particular choice. Further, the choice itself may not be sinful or wrong – it’s just a choice, but it took us down a more difficult path. However,  going down a more difficult path is not necessarily bad – it is just more difficult. Even righteous choices often result in a more difficult life.
   5. Time & Chance: Ecclesiastes 9:11-12. This is such an important text for today because a large percentage of religious people do not consider time and chance as a possible reason for various circumstances in life. The reason for this is John Calvin who taught that everything that happens is a result of the direct hand of God. It is anathema to these followers to believe that God would just “back off” and let the course of events fall as they will. Of course, we have no idea to what degree God allows time and chance to play a role, but we do know “time and chance happens to all.”
   6. Answer to prayer: 1 John 5:14-15. Obviously, a Christian is going to also know that some things happen as a result of prayer. Jesus tells us that just as we know how to give good gifts to our children, so the Father will give good gifts to those who ask Him. We must also consider that there may be many times in which God answers our prayers in a different way than we expected. A simple example: I may ask for God to take away a trial (Paul’s thorn), but his answer is better than what I originally imagined. The best gifts may often come through a more difficult road.
   7. How should we react?
      1. So, when “stuff” happens in our lives, what is the answer? As you can see by examining the above list, we often do not know the answer. We may more closely identify something that has happened as a result of “cause and effect” or even possibly “answer to prayer” than anything else. But we must admit, we just do not always know.
      2. Well, you might say, “That is even more frustrating.” Not really. I think it is very nice. You see, since there is no way of knowing, since life & circumstances are not in my hands, I can instead relax and trust God to handle it! Now that is better than knowing! You see, this is not my life; it is his, and just like Job, whatever God wants to do with my life is his business, not mine.

Berry Kercheville