Why? Series

"Why?" is an oft asked question

El Tablazo looked so close. Too close. It happened so fast. Exploding into the jagged 14,000-foot peak, the DC-4 disintegrated with a metallic scream.

What was left of the Avianca Airline flight bound for Quito, Ecuador, flamed crazily down the mountainside into a deep ravine. One awful moment illuminated a cold Colombian mountain in the night, then the darkness returned. And the silence.

Before leaving the airport earlier that day, a young New Yorker named Glenn Chambers hurriedly scribbled a note on a piece of paper he found on the floor of the terminal. The scrap was part of a printed advertisement with a single word, “Why?” sprawled across the center.

Needing stationery in a hurry, Chambers scrawled a note to his mother around the word in the middle. Quickly folding this last-minute thought, he stuffed it in an envelope and dropped it in a box. There would be more to come, of course. More about the budding of a lifelong dream to begin a ministry with the Voice of the Andes in Ecuador.

But there was no more to come. Between the mailing and the delivery of Chambers’ note, El Tablazo snagged his flight and his dreams from the night sky. The envelope arrived later than the news of his death. When his mother received it, the question burned up at her from the page— Why?

It is the question that hits first and lingers the longest. Why? Why me? Why now? Why this?

David Psalm 74

74:1 “O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?”

Job asked “why” 16 times (i.e. Job 3:11, 12)

Jeremiah

Jer 15:18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

Vance Havner:

I think of a year that started out so pleasantly for my beloved and me. We had made plans for delightful months ahead together. Instead, I sat by her bedside and watched her die of an unusual disease. She expected to be healed but she died. Now, all hopes of a happy old age together are dashed to the ground. I plod alone with the other half of my life on the other side of death. My hand reaches for another hand now vanished, and I listen at night for the sound of a voice that is still. And I am tempted a thousand times to ask, “My God, Why. . . ?”

We should not call it a temptation to ask, “Why?” We should know it is an invitation! (James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”)

There is a new theology that says that one of two things is true:

Either God is not all-powerful

or God is not all-loving

Some choose to serve a God who is all-loving, but not all powerful. They claim that God is in a death lock with evil struggling to overcome and we are to help Him.

They can’t reconcile tragedies:

∙ Birth defects

∙ Accidents

∙ Suffering

John 11 reinforces some basic truth’s and answers the question, “why.”

I. John 11 answers the question, Does God love us?

II. John 11 answers the questions, is God all-powerful? Can God help us?

III. John 11 answers the question, if God does love us and is powerful enough to help us, why does he allow suffering?

I. Does God Love Us?

2 reasons why we wonder about His love

Jn. 11: 6 “When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.”

A. We wonder about His love because of His Deliberate Delay

Jesus whom both Mary and Martha thought could help Lazarus waited two days before he came to their aid.

John 11:21 “Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”

John 11:32 “Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”

Many times when we pray we do not receive an immediate answer. That delay causes us to wonder if God loves us.

We believe if God loves us, there ought to be an immediate response. We expect to hear the wings of angels as He hurries to answer.

But God knows more than us and doesn’t answer prayer our way.

Howard Hendricks:

A mother of a young lady came to him and said, “Howard, I just want you to know that I’m praying that you’ll be my son-in-law.”