“God Rarely Tells You Why”
4/27/25
1Cor. 13:12 “In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face-to-face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.”
This verse is letting us know that there are many things in life we simply will not understand.
And virtually everyone here that’s been saved for very long knows this is true!
Many things happen in life that leave unanswered question marks.
–Surprises we didn’t see coming,
–things that bring pain like betrayals,
–the bad things people do that deeply hurt us, an unexpected loss,
–a shut door that we just knew was going to open,
and on the list goes.
We want desperately to understand why it was allowed,
why God let it happen,
or why He Himself is the direct cause.
Yet when we ask Him why, often only silence greets us.
One of the most profound examples of God’s silence is in the story of Job.
Job was a righteous man that endured immense suffering and loss.
He lost his health, wealth, children, and friends in a rapid succession of tragic events.
Throughout his trials, he cries out for an explanation from God, yet receives no immediate answer.
Listen to his complaint to God, “I cry out to You, but You do not answer; I stand up, and You merely look at me” (Job 30:20).
But God’s silence did not mean God was absent, He’s just not answering his “WHYS.”
And we sometimes experience the same thing.
We pray, “Why Lord, did this happen?”
“Why did YOU let this happen?”
“Why did this door close, this person betray me, this health issue take place?”
And at least for a season of time our WHY is not answered!
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So this I’ve learned thru the years…
God rarely tells you why.
First, let’s be honest,
I. He’s not obligated to!
He’s God, and God is not obligated to explain His actions to any of us.
Let’s remember, He’s the Potter, we’re the clay, He made us, not the other way around.
It’s not that He’s being mean, the fact is:
A.) His thoughts and ways are higher than ours
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 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.”–Is 55:8-9
Translated: There are times that, even if He were to tell us WHY, we are too limited to take it all in.
–We’re finite, God is infinite
–We’re stuck in time, God dwells in eternity
–We see only what is right NOW in front of us, but God sees the beginning and the ending of a thing all at once.
–What we must learn, God already knows
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Sometimes I think the church needs a fresh revelation of the awesomeness of the God of the Bible!
Let’s allow the Prophet Isaiah to illuminate us on this:
“God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!”–Isa 40:22
“He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing.”
GOD SAYS OF HIMSELF:
“Before Me there was no God formed, nor will there be after Me.”–Isa 43:10
“I am the first and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.”–44:6
“Who else can tell you what is going to happen in the days ahead? Let them tell you if they can and prove their power. Let them do as I have done since ancient times.”–44:7
“Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.”–46:10
“…is there any other God? No! None that I know about! There is no other Rock!”–44:8
“I work, and who will reverse it?” 43:13
“The Lord, your Redeemer who made you, says: All things were made by me; I alone stretched out the heavens. By myself I made the earth and everything in it.”–44:24
Job writes, “God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend.”–37:5
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With verses like these in mind, the Apostle Paul writes:
“33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! 34 For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice?”–Ro. 11:33-34
Those verses alone let us know that even if He were to tell us WHY it would be impossible for us to understand!
God does things for reasons known only to Him that are deeper, more complex, more profound than we could ever understand the WHY of.
ILLUS: Aquarium
B.) Sometimes its best we don’t know
There is a truth to the phrase “ignorant bliss” because sometimes not knowing WHY protects us.
We’re not ready for the WHY, but we will be later.
When Jesus began washing the disciple’s feet just prior to his arrest, He said:
“You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”–John 13:7
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So God is not obligated to tell us why, but:
II. We ARE obligated to trust Him
It’s when we don’t understand, when we’re “seeing through a glass darkly” that we learn to place our trust in the sovereign hand of God.
If I understood it all, why do I need trust and faith?
ILLUS: I have an ever expanding file in my mind labeled THINGS I DON’T UNDERSTAND.
–It grows by the year with events,
–and circumstances, and painful experiences,
–and losses, and disappointed expectations,
–and various other things that left me with unanswered question marks.
–And written below each entry is the famous verse,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding.”—Prov. 3:5
I have no doubt that when I step over to the other side, all of the unanswered questions will either no longer matter, or will be instantly understood.
Until then,
III. I don’t have to understand it all to follow Jesus
Jesus told His disciples: “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.”–John 16:12
Translated: He’ll tell me when I’m ready. I can safely leave the question marks in His nail scarred hands!