Why Does God Hold Out on Us?

Why can’t some couples have children? Why are children born with disabilities, deficiencies, or deformities? Why do some children not have moms or dads? Why do some have abusive or neglectful parents? Why are children molested and women raped? Why do some people never find a spouse? Why do people get cancer and other terminal illnesses? Why do others live with chronic diseases their whole lives? Why do children die and grandparents lose their memories? Why do people live in poverty? Why don’t people have enough to eat or a place to live? Why are there wars and natural disasters?

Why does God let these things happen? Why doesn’t He stop them? Why doesn’t He fix them? Why doesn’t He prevent them in the first place?

The short answer is that I don’t know.

I could tell you that everything happens for a reason and that the reason is different for every person, in every circumstance. I could tell you that maybe it is so you can help someone else down the road or to make you stronger or grow your character in some way. I could even tell you to count your blessings or to keep praying and stay hopeful. I could tell you that we live in a fallen world and nothing is perfect on this side of heaven. Then, I could say that this world is only temporary and our eternity will be so amazing that we can’t even imagine it.

But you’ve probably heard all that before. Maybe you’ve even said some of these things to yourself along the way. So, I’m not going to try and explain away your pain or make you feel bad for being sad or try to help you understand something that I don’t understand myself. I cannot tell you why.

I Know Why Not

But I can tell you why not.

It’s not because God doesn’t love you. (Romans 5:8) It’s not because He doesn’t hear your prayers (1 John 5:14) or can’t see what’s going on. (Proverbs 15:3) It’s not because He doesn’t have the resources, (Philippians 4:19) the understanding, or strength (Psalm 147:5). It’s not because He doesn’t know enough or isn’t good enough(Exodus 34:6). It’s not because He forgot about you or changed His mind, (Numbers 23:19). It isn’t because there are too many people that need Him and your just too far down the list (Psalm 46:1). It’s not because He messed up or doesn’t know what He’s doing (Exodus 32:4). It isn’t because He’s powerless or doesn’t care (1 Peter 5:7)

Psalm 139:1-18

O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. There is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from Your Spirit or flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven or make my bed in hell, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” even the night shall be light about me; Indeed the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed, and in Your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand.

His Ways Are Higher

At some point, we just have to make peace with the fact that we may never know why. But that doesn’t mean that God is evil, or powerless, or careless. It doesn’t mean that He is unaware or uninvolved. It just means that He is so far above us in knowledge and wisdom that we just can’t understand. He is on a completely different level than us.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9

Think about trying to explain to a child something so simple as why we can’t eat candy for every meal or how the money is all gone even though they know we pay for everything with our debit card and it’s still there. Eventually they will mature and understand these things, but when they are young, children just have to trust that their parents know things that they don’t.

Because of His Love for Us

What makes a child trust their parent even when they don’t understand. It’s their parent’s love for them, right? The child intuitively knows that we know more than them, and that they can trust us, because we’ve been teaching and caring for them for as long as they’ve been alive. They know we love them, so they trust that we have their best interests at heart. Even if we’re doing something that actually hurts them like holding them still while a doctor gives them a shot. They believe we must have a reason because they know we love them and would never let someone hurt them without a reason.

It’s the same with God. Even though we don’t understand, and often we’re really hurting, we trust Him because we know He loves us and He knows more than us. He created the whole earth and everything in it. We understand that the Creator must be more knowledgeable and more powerful than the created. That’s why we turn to Him for answers and believe He can do something in response.

So, because He knows more than us and because He loves us, we trust Him. Then, because He has more power than us, we pray to Him. We look to Him when we’re in need and in pain because we know that He’s the only one who can do anything about it. But if we don’t get the answer we want, we have to trust that He knows best. We can still cry to Him and He’ll still comfort and hold us, but we may have to wait until we get to heaven to know why.

Therefore, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to the faithful Creator while doing good.

1 Peter 4:19

Links

Watch or Listen to this post on at LivethruJesus Weekly Devotions “Why Does God Hold Out On Us?”

This is inspired by “Give it All Up to God” which is about Hannah not being able to have any children in 1 Samuel 1. You can Watch or Listen to it on YouTube, Podcast, or study it on Substack. 

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