Turn Why Into Worship

He knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

I will never understand why one womb can bear a quiver of children while another womb quivers with grief after yet another miscarriage.

I will never understand why one person is born into a family with two loving parents and another is abandoned at birth or abused in childhood.

I will never understand why cancer ravages one body while another lives into triple digits.

I will never understand how someone who loves Jesus can inflict pain on a fellow brother or sister in Christ.

I will never understand why some believers have access to countless Bibles while others face the possibility of death just for holding a page from God’s Word.

The list could go on with all the things I will never fully make sense of while I inhabit this body and navigate life’s questions with a limited mind. You likely have your own lengthy “I will never understand” list based on trials you’ve faced, worries you’ve wrestled with, and suffering you’ve endured and witnessed.

Jesus never promised we would understand everything on this side of heaven. The question is, will we be consumed by what we don’t understand or will we allow what we know about God from his Word to form our response to life’s sufferings?

One of the oldest recorded books of the Bible—Job—wrestles with the problem of pain and suffering. Though Job was a righteous man, God allowed Satan to sift him until he was pulverized by pain (see Job 1:6-12). In a matter of days, Job lost his wealth, his estate, his family, and his health.

His once fortunate life was reduced to ashes, burned by the fire of affliction and scattered by the wind of questioning. The bulk of the book of Job records back-and-forth conversations with his friends as they wrestle to understand why all this happened to righteous Job.

The book does not end with a detailed explanation of God’s answers to their questions. Rather, it ends with an astonishing display of God’s power—and humbling reminders that God can do anything.

The book of Job reveals to us that it is not wrong to ask why when we suffer (see Job 1:8; 7:20; see also Habakkuk 1:3). When we come to God with everything we don’t understand, our Maker ministers to us and sustains us as we navigate life’s hardest questions. He blows his winds of mercy through our forlorn souls and awakens us to his glory and grace.

For now, we wait, we wonder, and we wrestle. And though we may not understand, we can proclaim with Job: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25). When we don’t understand the why, we can cling to the who.

Word before World We will never fully understand the answers to all our questions, but we can face suffering with our eyes on Jesus, who has all understanding and power.

Grow in Grace Acknowledging the things we will never understand leads us to deeper worship of and surrender to our omniscient God. Bring your whys to God, and let him turn them into worship.