Who, What, When, Where, How

There’s really nothing like seeing the clock strike 10PM and thinking to yourself: “I should get some In-N-Out.”

Seriously, how often do you find yourself at 9:59PM completely satisfied and suddenly the clock strikes 10PM and the next logical decision is for you to eat 4,000 calories?

The best part is when at 10PM I tell Anna I want to get In-N-Out and her response is always, “Why?”... to which I always respond, “You know who you married.”

Isn’t it so interesting how we often ask why when we know the answer to the question?

Maybe you can relate to when my wife asks me why I set an alarm for 5AM only to wake up 15 snoozes later at 6:30AM. I, of course, respond “You know who you married.”

You see, I’m not trying to be funny… I’m just saying the more time you spend getting to know someone, the more their habits and actions begin to make sense without even asking why.

If you look at the story of Job, you find a man who God has blessed abundantly, and Job responds with love, obedience, and praise to God for it. At a certain point the devil steps in and challenges Job's faithfulness by suggesting that Job would not be as faithful to God if Job were to lose all his blessings. To show Job’s character, God allows for the devil to take away Job's physical possessions, so long as he doesn’t take away his life.

After many challenges and trials, Job finally reaches a point of despair. He’s lost his wealth, family, friends, health, and he comes to God crying out for an explanation. God responds with a long stream of statements, but let’s just look at one in Job 38:37-38…

“Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?

  Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

when the dist becomes hard

  and the clods of the earth stick together?”

- Job 38:37-38

Essentially, Job is asking why he’s lost everything and God responds by saying, “Who knows how many clouds are in the sky, and who controls when the rain falls?”

Job is asking “Why”; God answers with “Who”.

There are very few moments in our life where the deep questions we are asking to the infinite God of the universe are answered with our finite human logic. God isn’t looking to explain action and reaction in exchange for comfort; He’s looking to reveal His character and power to give us peace.

Are you looking for relief from the anxiety of all your “Why?” questions you’re bringing to God? Simply understanding why something does or doesn’t happen isn’t that helpful, it’s just information.

I believe if we shift from wanting to know answers and information, and begin to seek God’s presence, we can discover a peace beyond understanding.

DJ Brennan

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