Why?

As seen in the HEARTbeat and the Village Voice

“Why?”

            “Why?”  “Are we there yet?”  “Who said so?”  These and many other questions like them have come out of a child’s mouth and may have hit your ears like fingernails on a blackboard.  But before we talk about phrases kids use to annoy parents (intentionally I might add), how about one that may have come out of your mouth that makes even less sense than theirs: “Don’t make me pull this car over right here!” or “Don’t make me come back there!”  Sometimes words have a way of bypassing our logic center and come out of our mouths.

            During this past political season, I sat and watched interview after interview.  A phrase that I said way too often was, “Do they listen to themselves when they speak?”  Or even, “Do they even think before they open their mouths?”  What causes people to just rattle off what may seem on the surface to be a sufficient answer to a question?  One of the greatest orators of the 20th century was Winston Churchill.  He was a big proponent of the “pause before you speak” tactic in public speaking.  On one such occasion, Mr. Churchill was at a party and had a little too much to drink, as often was the case.  A woman approached him and unashamedly said, “Mr. Churchill, you’re drunk.”  He appropriately paused before he spoke to allow his brain to be engaged.  He took a breath and said, “Madam, you are correct.  I am drunk.  But in the morning, I will be sober and you will still be ugly!”

            We want to know answers to our questions.  Many occurrences in our life go beyond our ability to understand with our acquired knowledge, therefore we seek reasons.  We may ask, “Why?” or “How could that have happened?”  Filling in gaps in our understanding is human nature, but sadly if we don’t know answers, we tend to fill the gaps with negative thinking.

            Mary, the mother of Jesus, found out through the Archangel Gabriel she was the one, the one chosen by God to be the mother of the Messiah.  Every young girl in the tribe of Judah and lineage of David who studied the prophets dreamed of being the one.  When Gabriel told her she was highly favored by God, the only question she had was a logical one: “How can this be since I am a virgin?”  She didn’t ask why me or think poor me.  She didn’t even think of the consequences of being engaged and becoming pregnant.  We don’t have a record in scripture where she agonized over what people might think or what they might say behind her back.  Her only response was, “I am the Lord’s servant.  May your word to me be fulfilled.”

            We can ask ourselves, “Why did God allow this or that to happen?”  “Doesn’t He love me?”  The depth of God’s love cannot be understood.  But He did send His Son to us to be born a helpless child, walk among us, give us an example of God’s love by loving us, and eventually showed His love by giving Himself as a sacrifice.

God has a plan for all of us.  Let us live as if God is totally in control.  Then and only then will blessings abound in our lives and His answers will be made clear.