We prefer our world in neat packages coupled with easy explanations. But too often, that’s not how life is served up at all. I was pondering that after participating in a fund raising event for a seven year old girl with cancer. This precious child faces an uneasy prognosis; her family an unwanted struggle.
We lift prayers for the little girl and her family. We cry out for healing and comfort.But we also (I at least also) want to shake my hand at the heavens and scream why? Or how could you? You see, my humanity prevents me from understanding and, at times, from accepting.
You already know the question that lingers like the elephant in the room. And you’ve no doubt heard it before, or perhaps even uttered it yourself. How could a GOOD and LOVING God allow such a thing to happen? What did this child do to deserve the grim diagnosis of brain cancer?
People with a life full of steadfast faith have lost their faith in the cold reality of such situations. If I can’t reconcile how my good and loving God allowed this to happen, I can just as well do without him.
Neat packages and easy explanations.
It would be so much easier if we knew the truth behind such gut wrenching questions. But would it really? If I understood the purpose and truth behind every tragic event, every grim diagnosis, every unwanted challenge, would it really matter? Would it make the hurt and pain any easier to bear if I knew the “why” behind everything on this earth? I, for one, don’t think so.
Some people are quick to find or create their own explanations. You know what I’m taking about. Have you ever heard anyone say, “Well, it must be God’s will. We’ll just have to accept it.” I would be tempted to say, well if it’s God’s will that a second grader be stricken with brain cancer, then God’s will sucks. I think that it’s far too easy to either abandon one’s faith in the face of such suffering, or simply try and explain it away.
But you know what?
I think that a big part of faith is admitting that I don’t know all the answers and never will on this side of heaven. Particularly when the questions are most difficult. In the case of this child, I pray for healing for her and courage and comfort for her family.
I’ll still lift my “why’s” to God, but have to understand at the end of the day, those questions won’t likely be answered. That’s why they call it “faith”, right?
Neat packages and easy explanations are nice. And comfortable. Real faith lives and is often strengthened when things (like life) are at their messiest.
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