Kids love to ask questions, right? From the time they begin putting 3 or 4 words together, they soon learn to form a question and from that moment on, their lives are a sponge of questions, asking, then soaking in the answers. But.....sometimes they ask a question when the answer is obviously right in front of them.
Recently our son was preaching and I was holding our 2 year old grandson, Isaac. He is a Daddy's boy right now, (and we know that can change quickly at this age) and just before his Daddy had gotten up to preach, he had been sitting in Daddy's lap. Daddy is preaching away and Isaac looked at me and asked, "Where Daddy go?" The answer was obvious, Daddy was right in front of him, but his expression was so sweet, so innocent, all I could do was hug him close and say, "Daddy's right up there, he's preaching."
I've asked God many questions; have you? But only recently did I find the answer to the most obvious question of my life; "Why God?" And it was right there in His word all along.
There are so many things that come into our lives that have us scratching our head and asking, "Why, Lord? Why did that happen to me? Why did that happen to her? Why did I have to endure that experience? Why am I sick? Why did she suffer that loss? They are such good people and they have been through so much, why? Where do I go from here? Who can help me?"
In Deuteronomy 8, the children of Israel are almost home. They are so close they can smell the grapes and taste the milk and honey. I can just imagine being a Hebrew woman who has lived in a tent for 40 plus years and the idea of a real home, real stability and security are just a few short miles away and close enough to smell and taste. I am not a camper and would not fare well as a tent dweller. I can chalk up 2 camping experiences in my life and they were not pleasant, I was not a happy camper. But for the Israelites, the camping out is almost over.
I have been a believer for many years. I have read the book of Deuteronomy many times, taught lessons from it, and read stories of God's deliverance that have built my faith. But only last week, my son shared this scripture with me and answered my often asked question; "Why does God allow bad things to happen to His people?"
If your Bible is close by, I encourage you to open it to Deut. 8:3; you will want to mark or hi-lite this verse and meditate on it, and commit it to memory. The entire chapter is a great read and in that chapter, Moses is looking back at his life and all he and the children of Israel have been through in over 40 years of journeying together. In v3, God says to Moses:
"I humbled you, I allowed you to be hungry, so that "I" could feed you." (emphasis on the word "I" is mine.)
Oh ladies, is that not earth shaking to you? It is to me. God only allows hurtful, terrible things into our lives so that He can be the One to "feed us." He allows those hurts and situations to invade our tightly knit families and perfect little worlds so that He can be the One to take care of us, to teach us, to lead us. God loves us so much that He doesn't want anyone else to feed us, He wants to do that Himself, and the only way He can feed us is to allow us to get hungry.
Food is our most basic need in life. The Israelites got hungry and God gave them manna from heaven. They knew where it came from and from that time forward every generation knew that they were hungry in the wilderness and their Jehovah Jireh, the Lord Who provides all our needs, fed them.
Today you may be hungry. You may be physically hungry with no way to buy food for your family. You may be spiritually hungry and need to hear from God. You may be sick; emotionally, physically or relationally and you need Jehovah Roi, the God Who sees us, to come right to where you are and "feed you."
Until we are in Heaven with Him, we will always ask "Why?" We will wonder and speculate, we'll try to figure it out and still we won't know the whole answer to our question, "Why does God allow bad things to happen to His people?" But today I do know this; He allows me to endure the hardships of this life so that I will know beyond a shadow of doubt that it is Him, my Lord and Savior Who feeds me and meets each and every one of my needs.
The next time you face a situation that threatens your peace of mind and stirs up your fear and causes you to wonder "Why", tell your Omnipotent Father that you are hungry and you are trusting Him to feed you.
Penny
