DEVOTIONAL 1: WRESTLING WITH WHYS

In celebration of the Church's Ten days of prayer, I am publishing here devotional articles I had written in the book Prayers of the Faithful published by the Philippine Publishing House in 2008.

WRESTLING WITH WHYS

She was just 18-- young, vibrant, and beautiful.  Austin Cloud came to Virginia Tech clad in her ardent dreams only to have them shattered by a mad gunman killing her and 31 others.  When I read her story, I couldn't help but ask god why these things happened.

Reading the morning papers or watching the evening news, we face many adverse issues that plague our society -- crime, violence, social injustice, economic decline, etc. How long will these things last?

Evidently, the personal issues of life are even more disheartening.  As a teacher-counselor, people come to me with their ailing questions: "Why are others pretty and intelligent and I am not?" "Why did God take my mother untimely?"  "Why are others blessed with good families while I suffer here feeling all alone?" And personally, I thought: Where is God when strife and contention surround the lives of His people?

Some 2000 years back, Habakkuk had an almost similar set of questions. During the earlier part of his life, there had been wonderful reforms under the leadership of King Josiah.  But when Josiah died in 600 BC, corruption set in and people reverted to ungodly ways.  Dismayed, Habakuk asked the Lord why He allowed injustice to prevail.  The Lord partially responded to his plea contrary to what He expected.  Complaints so often emerge out of unmet expectations. When the Lord doesn't deal with our situations according to our ways or act by our own standards, we express our helpless thoughts of disappointment.

In the case of Habakuk, when everything had been said and done, he finally resigned to God's ways and rested his faith on Him.  Indeed, God's purpose is different from ours.  Yet mysterious as they seem, His activities are always a step towards the path of eternal bliss.  The Bible clarifies that when God gives His word He sees to it that it shall come to pass (Isaiah 55:11)

When the howling storms of doubt haunt my perplexed spirit and unfavorable circumstances of life knock me off my feet, I look back to the way the Lord has graciously led me in the past and take comfort in knowing that the God whom I believe never fails in His promises.  Then my soul is hushed as He whispers to my ear: "Be still, My child, be still."