Why Lord?

Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

Is it ok to ask the Lord the question why? A lot of us want to. We see sickness and death happening to some faithful people we know. We want to ask why. We look at our country believing its the only catholic nation in Asia and yet we are in a state of national emergency. We want to ask why. We study all we can and yet sometimes we still fail. We want to ask why. We do all the necessary preparations for an event and yet it still fails. We want to ask why. We work very hard and yet at the end of the day our boss is still not satisfied with our work. We want to ask why.

We want to ask why but sometimes we fear that it would insult the Lord. We fear that if we do so, we put question on our faith. Is it ok to come to the Lord in prayer and ask why? In my opinion, it all depends on the purpose of our question.

If it is to question the Lord's wisdom and authority, then I believe it is not right. We need to believe that the Lord is a loving God. We need to believe that the Lord's purpose and ways while sometimes difficult to understand and accept is always right. We need to believe that it is our Heavenly Father's intent for us to be with Him and thus experience true joy and happiness, total peace, without sickness and death. In fact, we don't just need to believe, we ought to accept, because it is true.

If on the other hand, our intent in asking why is to try to understand, then I believe that it is perfectly ok. Jesus, Himself, asked the Lord Why? Asking "why" leads us to conversation and to a deeper relationship with our God. Asking why in this regard leads us to seeking God's will. Asking why in this regard does not weaken our faith, rather, it deepens it. Remember what happened after Jesus asked "why" while He was on the cross ... in Luke 23:46, Jesus said "Father, into Your hands I commit my Spirit." After the question "why" came a total submission to God's will. I believe that between the two statements, the Lord God gave His reply to the Lord Jesus.

Is it ok to ask why? I believe so. For as long as it comes from an intent to seek God's will and to come into conversation with our Lord, thus deepening our relationship with Him. I pray that everytime we ask the question why, it would then be followed by a complete and total submission to God's will for us, just like Jesus.

Dear God, allow me to ask You why things happen to me or to people around me every now and then. I do so not to question Your will and authority nor do I question Your omnipotent wisdom. I do so simply to understand and to come into conversation with You that my relationship with You will deepen and my faith strengthen. Guard me that I may never waiver in my faith, and when I have my conversations with You, may they always lead me to a complete and total submission to Your will.His Word brings Hope, Life, Love, Joy, and Peace.- Randy