When there are no answers I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me. —Psalm 13:5–6
R
emember the story of Joseph? What Jacob’s favourite son had to endure offered little visible evidence that God was working out things “for his good”, at least at the time.
Kidnapped by his own brothers and sold off as a slave, Joseph was stripped of his freedom, reputation, and the comforts of home. Then he was falsely accused of rape and imprisoned. Anyone in Joseph’s position would have found it hard to hold on to God’s promises. It wouldn’t be too surprising if he asked God, “Why is all this happening?” The answer, however, didn’t come till many years later, when Joseph saw how God was using 20
him to deliver the people of Israel from famine (Genesis 45:4–7). While God welcomes our honest questions, we need to be prepared for the possibility that we won’t get the answers we seek. Our hearts may cry out for answers we can understand, but the truth is, because we’re humans, there are limits to our comprehension; we’re not God. Our only hope is to trust a God who is sovereign over all things to use them for our good—even our sufferings. All men of great faith, from Joseph to David, have at one point or other questioned God when things went wrong. And they all came to the same conclusion: they bowed down to God’s ultimate goodness and
