Why Did You Forsake Me?

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WHY is there so much suffering, misery, misfortune in this world? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why are believers the chosen target for those who practice deception and dishonesty? Why are those who confess their belief in the one and eternal God and His Son frequently being persecuted? Doesn’t the Bible promise a joy and peace for His followers? I don’t claim to know all the answers, but when I prayed about this the Lord revealed me a few truths:

[1] The world is Satan’s kingdom. Satan is evil and so is the world. Anyone that is “good” doesn’t confirm to the standard of this world. “I was conceived in sin, in wickedness I was formed” lamented King David.  Is it then such a surprise that bad things frequently happen to good people? “The world will hate you as it hated me” Jesus warned His followers. Nowhere does the Bible promise the believers a “rose garden”. In fact Jesus and many of the New Testament authors warned that life was not going to be easy for Christians.

[2] Failures and disappointments are some of God’s ways of warning you to correct your ways or else……..It is a “wake-up” call. There are dangers lurking on the highway and wise drivers will watch for the signs, slow down where necessary, and shift gears. Those who insist on rushing ahead often end up in a ditch. It is also a time for stopping and taking a good look at where you are going – time for introspection, stock-taking. God doesn’t have to warn you. Not everyone is given a second chance. However, He does it in out of His love for you.

In 1996, while I was riding a bike, I was hit by a speeding bus, dragged about 30 feet on concrete pavement and then thrust into a mud pit. My right arm was split open and shoulder bone broken. My brain was wrenched out of its mooring and the base of my skull cracked. (Very few survive this kind of injury). Twenty two years down the road, today I think my accident was the best thing that ever happened to me. I am frightened to imagine where I would be today if that accident had not happened.

I was born in a traditional Christian family in 1938. Both my parents were well educated and I had a strictly “religious” up bringing, but most of my childhood was spent in grinding poverty.   I studied our family history for 5 or 6 generations and came to a conclusion that Christianity was the cause of our poverty! By the time I was 12 I had a thorough knowledge of the Bible and could quote from it any time, in two languages. By 20, I had read a lot about most of the world religions and philosophical thoughts of famous thinkers. By 25, I rejected organized religion and, along with that, God.

I believed only wealth and wisdom could save mankind.  Those who possess these must share them with those who did not. God was not relevant any more, in this scientific era. If there was a God who had created heaven and earth, He has either lost control over them or was not interested in them anymore. Religion has done more harm to mankind than good. It is true that mankind is in dire straits, but the answer is in economic and scientific development. A start has been made already in this direction and with increased awareness, social justice and an accelerated growth rate, everybody would be happy. If man tries hard enough, he can create a heaven on earth. I not only harbored thoughts of this kind, but tried hard to propagate them. I claimed there was no sin in me, was not in need of salvation. Today, after receiving Jesus Christ in my heart and having been assured of eternal life, I can see how flawed my thoughts were.

I am quoting from the delightful book ‘The Book of Angels’ by Sophy Burnham:

“The forces of the universe have a wondrous way of bringing us down to our heals. Eventually, everyone is forced to his knees in total, forced surrender -- forced to ask. A person can be content, complacent, satisfied with his money and career, marriage, kids, the steady, constant life; and sure as the sun comes up, some damage will be done until he’s lying clobbered in the street; and then he knows what is good for him, he will ask. And if not, sure as night follows day, he’ll get hachetted by life until he does.  Then he must kneel in humble submission, for until you bow down before this force of the universe, until you are brought right to your knees by pain and despair, you still withhold yourself and your prayer has less effect.

“And this is why we cannot determine after a while what is good, what is bad. What we thought a blessing has such thorns, we can hardly hold it our hands, while what we thought was a terrible blow turns out to wear a crown.”

[3] If God is our Father and we are His children, then He has the right to discipline us from time to time. He decides how we should be corrected, when and where. There is no parent who does not discipline his children and remember it is done for the child’s own good. I must quote  here Hebrews 12:5,6,11:

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. The Lord disciplines those whom He loves and punishes everyone He accepts as a son….No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace”.

[4] The troubles we undergo strengthen our faith. The result is the ability to endure. This endurance makes us perfect and complete, preparing us to meet all life situations headlong, riding over them, always in control of our circumstances. Wouldn’t you like that?

[5] For a Christian, this world is not “home’’. We are pilgrims, wayfarers, strangers. God doesn’t want us to become too comfortable here, get too much attached to this world, and forget the eternal home we are headed to. This is another reason he sends us troubles and disappointments our way, once in a while. One who is too friendly with the world is God’s enemy, the Bible says.

[6] God also uses trials to groom us for a higher purpose. By relentless chiseling, a sculptor turns a dirty piece of rock into a marvelous work of art. The only way to purify gold is to throw it into fire. We are like jewels, shaped with the hammer and chisels of adversity. If a jeweler’s hammer is not strong enough to chip off our rough edges, God will use a sledgehammer. If we are stubborn, he might use a jackhammer. He will use whatever it takes. I still remember how He went to work on me!

[7] We often talk about human rights. Even animals have rights, they say. Similarly, God as the Creator of heaven and earth has a few rights. Shall we call them Divine rights? The Bible compares God to a Potter. We are clay in His hands. The clay cannot ask the potter “Why did you give me this shape, why not another?”

[8] Misfortunes help us by throwing the spotlight on us, pinpointing to what we lack. As long as we remain healthy, wealthy, powerful, famous, etc we think there was nothing wrong with life. We take so many things for granted. Is it not possible that we had simply deluded ourselves that ours was a perfect state? The moment something goes wrong we are devastated. We think it is the end of everything. It isn’t. Our “misfortune” can be the beginning of something new, something better if only we are willing to face facts, accept them, and proceed from there. I admit this is easier said than done. We cannot do this on our own strength. We need God’s help. We must let Him help us.

     

For this we must first admit before Him we are a sinful lot. We sin because we are sinners, not the other way around. We are members of the lost race of Adam, deserving to be punished. We can’t save ourselves, we need a savior. A whole army of saints in heaven cannot save us. No religious practice, no church attendance, no work of charity can save us. God made a new covenant with mankind and sealed it with the blood of Jesus. Jesus is the mediator of this covenant. We don’t need a mediator to reach a mediator. When we pray to Him confessing our helplessness, our emptiness and our need of salvation, then He comes to our help. We will never be the same again.

Human beings are not designed to have all the answers. There are three states in this life – past, present and future. Among these, future is totally hidden from us. You don’t have all the information you need for an answer.  Even the best among us can be right only two thirds of time. Insisting on an answer in this situation will only result in frustration, anger, misery.  Feed into a computer 66% of the required data and demand an answer to a problem. The dumb machine will just sit there unresponsive or worse, produce a false answer. You can scream all your WHY’s with all your might all your life and find no answer. Even Jesus didn’t receive an answer when He cried out in agony “My God, my God, why did you forsake me?”.

Lay all your questions – ‘why’s -- to rest and relax. Believe in Jesus and place your trust in Him. Humble yourself and pray the prayer of the sinner.  What you need is peace, not answers. Jesus said “My peace I give you. True peace, not the thing this world calls peace”. It is for the asking. Peace be with you.

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