The Valley of WHY

Scripture:

Mark 15:33-34 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. (34) And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Observation:

On the cross, Jesus quotes the first line of Psalm 22. The whole psalm is a prophecy expressing the deep agony of the Messiah's death for the world's sin. Jesus knew that he would be temporarily separated from God the moment he took upon himself the sins of the world. This separation was what he had dreaded as he prayed in Gethsemane. The physical agony was horrible, but the spiritual alienation from God was the ultimate torture.

Application:

I was listening to my music of choice (Southern Gospel), when a song came on entitled, "God is there for all of the days that end in Y" I got to thinking about that. That means He is there Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday! Each day of the week ends in "Y". He is with us and for us everyday of the week.

But as listened a little closer to the song, I realized that the message was deeper than that. The song was saying that He is also there for all of the days that end in why! Wow! And we have all had them haven't we? Days that end in "why". Anyway we look at it, we just can't figure out why.

Why did my daughter die so young? Why did my husband die at the prime of his life? Why did God not heal my dad of cancer? Why did my parents get a divorce? Why did my wife leave me? Why am I struggling financially when I pay tithes? Why is my life such a mess even though I'm a christian? Why did I lose my job? Why do I feel so alone? Why do I feel like my prayers aren't getting above the ceiling?

I could go on and on with different "why's". Did you know that Jesus dealt with "why's" as well?

Please read the following from Mark 15:33-34 once again:

Mar 15:33-34 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. (34) And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Jesus was in the darkest time of His earthly life, He had twice in His ministry heard a voice from heaven say, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Once when He was baptized, and the other when He was transfigured. Why no voice from heaven now? Where was God the Father? Where was the affirmation? The physical pain was so intense, but so now was the spiritual. Jesus hadn't heard from His Father. Had He forgotten Him? Was He now all alone?

The physical pain created spiritual pain which led to emotional pain. After hours of pain, Jesus cried out with a loud voice..."My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" There it is, Jesus' why. We know that Jesus dies, and after three days resurrects with victory over death, hell and the grave. It doesn't change the fact that Jesus suffered through the Why's of life.

There are some of you who are reading this blog today that are walking through the valley of why. You can't understand the pain, the loss, the frustration, the quietness from heaven. What is up God? Do you not care anymore? Do you not see me anymore? My God, WHY have you forsaken me?

My friend, please be reminded that just as God the Father had not forsaken Jesus, He has not forsaken you. His ways and thoughts are hard to fathom:

Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. (9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

To help make this point, I would like to borrow a paragraph from Mark Batterson's "In a pit with a Lion on a snowy day":

Astronomers have spied galaxies 12.3 billion light-years from earth. To put that distance into perspective, consider the fact that light traveling 186,000 miles per second only takes eight minutes to travel the 93 million miles between the sun and planet earth. Sunlight is only eight minutes old. But light from the furthest galaxy takes 12.3 billion years to get here. That distance is virtually incomprehensible! And God says that that is about the distance between His thoughts and our thoughts. Your best thought about God on your best day falls 12.3 billion light years short of how great and how good God really is. We underestimate God's goodness and greatness by at least 12.3 billion light years.

Just remember, when you can't figure out what is going on in your life, when you don't understand the why's, that Jesus really is there for every day that ends in why.

Prayer:

"Lord, I am so thankful that you understand the valley of WHY. You went through it…THROUGH it…and came out victorious. Help me to be aware that You will bring me THROUGH this valley of why. Help me to keep my confidence and trust in You. Thank you for Your love, grace, and mercy. In Jesus' name, amen!"