Austin's Blog

I think it is natural to struggle with the “Why” questions when tragedies strike you or your loved ones. One third of the Psalms are Psalms of lament where godly people complain, question, and grieve the evil of the world and how it all fits into the plan and character of a good God. Yet, I do not expect to know the answer of why God allowed what He did in the passing of my only son, Gabriel. Why? First, God’s ways are past finding out. His plan is described as inscrutable and He is even described as incomprehensible. This means that though we can know God truly, we cannot know everything about Him or even what He is up to in every way. Elisabeth Elliot writes in Suffering is Never for Nothing, “There will be those who can ‘explain’ to you God’s purposes in all of this. They’ll ‘see’ what it’s supposed to mean for you. Don’t worry about them. They are blind. No explanation this side of Heaven can possibly cover the data. It’s imponderable, inexplicable, and far, far beyond any explanations. You have to cast all that nonsense on the Rock too.” Who is to say I could currently understand the answers even if they were given on this side of heaven? His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts.

Second, God has not promised all the answers in this life. Instead, He has promised something greater than answers—Himself. When we go through deep waters, we do not need commentary; we need a companion. Answers alone will not bring my son back. Answers will not fill our empty arms. Answers alone will not console or comfort in the deepest sense that we need. We need something greater than answers; we need Someone. Tim Keller writes, “The promise is not that he will remove us from the experience of suffering. No, the promise is that God will be with us, walking beside us in it.” God gives us Himself. There is no explicit promise that the storm will stop. There is a promise that though the storm may not stop, He will be with us in the boat. Again, Elisabeth Elliot says, “There would be no intellectual satisfaction on this side of Heaven to that age-old question why. Although I have not found intellectual satisfaction, I have found peace. The answer I say to you is not an explanation but a person, Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God.” He can be trusted. He is here with us. That’s what we need most.

Third, while we may not know the specific answers to our why questions this side of heaven, we can trust in the truths Scripture teaches about God’s purposes in suffering. He offers truths about how He is using suffering in His Word. He has spoken. He is not silent. There are precious promises in His Word that we have clung to and they are sufficient. Joni Eareckson Tada who suffered a serious spinal issue as a teenager writes, “He has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace. The greatest good suffering can do for me is to increase my capacity for God. Real satisfaction comes not in understanding God’s motives, but in understanding His character, in trusting in His promises, and in leaning on Him and resting in Him as the Sovereign who knows what He is doing and does all things well.”

Our job is simply to trust Him and leave it all in His hands. (Of course, this is easier said and affirmed than accomplished.) He is the answer. Questions die away before Him. We trust that nothing is wasted, suffering is never for nothing, and there’s a purpose in this pain. Elisabeth Elliot remarks, “We may rest in the promise that God is fitting together a good many more things than are any of our business. We may never see ‘what good it did’ or how a given trouble accomplishes anything. It is peace to leave it all with Him, asking only that He do with me anything He wants, anywhere, anytime, that God may be glorified.” As the hold hymn says, we will understand it better in the by and by.