The Pastor’s Piece – April 18, 2021

Fellowship of Christian Farmers
April 18, 2021

Sometimes things happen in a person’s life that are difficult to understand, difficult to process, and difficult to resolve. Everyone reacts to adversity in different ways. Sometimes one’s burdens become more than they can bear.

Consider this – I received the following note last week from someone who is in a very difficult circumstance:

If you can come up with a really good answer as to why God puts certain adversities into our lives please let me know. I know that they are there to make us trust Him and strengthen our faith but, why are some people put more to the test than others. I know that there is no answer to this, but some days I have to ask the question. Everyday I just have to trust Him and count all of the blessings that He has given us.

When you look at the questions of life and death, and when you consider the problems of this generation and every generation for that matter, even the most fervent believer looks up to the heavens and cries out, Why? Why this? Why now?

Why? All of us ask it sooner or later. If you haven’t yet, you will. It’s a question that does not admit of an easy answer. Even the godliest believers have sometimes wondered about the ways of God. And if Job never got a complete answer, what can we expect? As I read the Bible, I don’t think there is one single answer.

We get one kind of answer in the book of Genesis, another kind of answer in Job, and still other answers in the book of Psalms. Ecclesiastes takes yet another approach, and the gospels present us with a Christ whose very coming alters the way we think about everything. I don’t mean to suggest that these various perspectives contradict each other. It’s just that the problem of human suffering is so vast that we need many different ways to think about it.

When it comes to understanding where God is and what God is trying to accomplish in our hardships, it’s difficult to understand. What do you do when God makes no sense? Either you walk away from your faith, or, you remind yourself of who God is. We need to remind ourselves of who God is. Sometimes we need to go back to what we know to be true about God. Consider it this way: if you remove God’s sovereignty, you will forever question His wisdom. If you remove God’s loyal love, you will forever question His faithfulness. If you remove God’s majesty, you will forever question His power. If you remove God’s holiness, you will forever question His fairness. If you remove God’s protection, you will forever question His goodness.

The question is not, “Do I believe in God?” (Just about everybody believes in God in one way or another). Rather, the question is, “What sort of God do I believe in?” That’s a key question we all have to answer.

He’s not the God we think He is. He’s much better than that. God’s ways are better. God’s heart is better. God’s thoughts are better. God’s plan is better. All that God is and all that God does is better.
We don’t see the bigger picture. All we see is what we see. The Apostle Paul said: “Now I know in part, but then I will know fully,” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor at Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin).