“Why me?” We have probably all uttered those words at one point or another when we’ve been hit with a seemingly unbearable trial in our lives, such as a tragic car accident that altars our lives forever, or ongoing unemployment that forces a change in our lifestyle, maybe a death or a disease of some sort.
Perhaps your greatest tribulation was the breakup of your family or a relationship. “Why me Lord, how could You let this happen to me?” Me of all people, I mean, I go to church and pray and all that stuff, surely, I should be spared these sorts of things.
We could probably go on and on I suppose. I’ve had my “why me” moments and I’m sure you’ve had yours. Those times in our lives where something happens that just doesn’t make sense to us, and we wonder how we’re ever going to get through or survive it.
Well, you most likely know this, but you and I are hardly alone in this department. In fact, one of the most prominent figures in the history of God’s people had his “why me?” moment too.
ou can recall the story from the Book of Genesis, God had decided to test the faith of Abraham, by commanding him one day to surrender his son Isaac to the Lord, by sacrificing him. Now, we must understand that God was not interested in the death of Isaac, He was only interested in the willingness of Abraham to give back to the Lord what was His…after all, every living thing is from the Lord and belongs to the Lord.
ny event, Abraham had waited a long time, 25 years as a matter of fact, for God to fulfill His promise of giving him a son from whom the Savior of the world would come, and now, God was demanding that he kill him. “Why me Lord?” he surely must have asked.
However, we see that despite this enormous predicament confronting Abraham, this Old Testament patriarch takes this challenge head-on the very next morning, trusting in the Lord’s promises to him that through this young man, and one of his descendants, the world would eventually be saved from sin. I’m certain Abraham didn’t know how this could be if his son was going to die, but he trusted and had faith in God’s promises never-the-less. All I can say is…wow…what trust, what faith!
How many of us do you suppose would have passed that test? But the truth of the matter is, we do face tests to our faith almost on a constant basis, and it comes in many shapes and forms not just tragic circumstances as we might suppose. But the question in them all is the same…do I love God more than anything? Do I trust that He has my best interests in mind?
Martin Luther once wrote, “God does not test us in order that we may fear and hate Him but that He may exercise and stir up faith and love in us.” In other words, we must trust that God is always working His ultimate and loving purposes in the midst of life’s tests and trials. And the truth be told, Christians who have endured trials have increased usefulness in relation to others who are undergoing similar trials, and therefore able to reach out and comfort and advise many in bodily and spiritual matters.
It may very well be that your trials are God’s way of preparing you for His service. May God give to us the faith by which He will work in us and through us, especially during those times when we are tempted to ask, “Why me?”
Until next month….
Pastor Roloff