What, Not Why
My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9
I was having a conversation with my daughter about life in general. We got to the topic of why God does things, and we struggled to understand it. After going back in forth, we discovered something very profound. It centered on the questions we were asking. We started with “why.” Why would God allow this to happen? Why does someone get away with things I could not? Why do I have to take the high road in the situation? Thinking it through, we realized those were not the right questions. Instead of focusing on why God allowed things to happen, we needed to focus on what spiritual growth God was intending for us.
We often look at our relationship with God with the idea that He is to answer our call such as what is written in Psalm 91:15, which says, “When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble.” Andy Stanley, talking on miracles, gave me great perspective on what our expectations are of God should be when we call on God. He said, “Miracles are at God’s discretion to accomplish God’s purposes.” Thus, we often miss the idea that miracles are not given because we want them. They are to serve God’s purpose, and our goal is to both grow spiritually regardless of whether He answers our prayers as we want them or not. This reminded me of Rick Warren’s words that began my journey to being born again: “It is not about you. It is about Him.”
Our goal as Christians is to learn what God asks of us rather than questioning why He does things. In my story, the question focused on us. Put another way, “Why is this happening to me?” We should keep in mind that type of questioning focuses on ourselves. In our relationship with God, the goal is servitude and submission to those things that are not necessarily to our benefit. It is always to His. Thus, the question changes from, “Why me,” to “What, God.”
Worded better, our real questions center on what God is expecting of us. What do I need to learn? What is God expecting of me? What would Jesus do? The simple framing of the question changes our entire perspective to one that is God-centric, which today’s verses point out is a higher level. For example, we should always strive to have our ways better than we ourselves can attain and our thoughts to be better than we ourselves might figure out. It is the wise thing to do.
Becoming a servant of God and giving up our own wants is not easy. There is a reason Solomon wrote, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) When we delve into our own logic, it is wired to focus on us. However, reading God’s word and putting it into practice ensures that we do not lose sight of God’s expectation and can better put it above our own wants. Let us strive to be people who look to God. What questions do we need to change to better align with God’s will? What mindset needs to change to focus on God’s desires above our own? My prayer is that we remember who we serve and stop asking “why” and start asking “what.” Amen.