What do you do when God calls you to a new place and you don’t understand why?
What did Noah do when God’s said to him, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out…” (Genesis 6:13-14 NIV)? God never explained why a world-wide flood was the only solution to the wickedness in the world.
What did Abram do when God said to, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1 NIV)? God gave no explanation for why Abram had to leave all that was familiar.
What did Joshua do when God said, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in” (Joshua 6:2-5 NIV)? God didn’t tell Joshua why they had to march seven days or why the details to this plan were important.
What did the virgin Mary do when God said, “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31-33 NIV)? God gave no explanation for why she was chosen.
What have you done when you knew the prompting of Holy Spirit within you to do something you did not plan to do – maybe even didn’t want to do – but knew it was from God? Generally, God gives no explanation.
Sometimes the mysteries of life are all we have — at least until God’s timing is such that he reveals something to us.
My last “Tear Jerker” Christmas book explores the questions of “why” in the context of a wonderfully woven story and amazing hand-drawn pictures. “Christmas Tapestry” by Patricia Polacco is a children’s version of a sermon illustration and begins with this:
There are those who say there is no balance in the universe and that all things happen randomly…without purpose. Take, for instance, one Jonathan Jefferson Weeks. He was most upset that his family came all the way from Memphis, Tennessee, when his father accepted the position of pastor at the New Baptist in Detroit. Even though their new home was on the outskirts…it was still Detroit! Nothing like Tennessee! What possible good reason could there be for leaving home and coming here?
Jonathan and his sister Beth didn’t understand why their family had to move to the Detroit area. The house and church building were junky, the church was empty of people, and the neighborhood was anything but wonderful. After a summer and fall of working to physically improve the church, they had started to adjust to their new life when their first blizzard was forecasted. Unfortunately, that blizzard brought ice that backed up the snowmelt and resulted in an interior, plastered wall in the church being ruined by the moisture. Suddenly, instead of the beautiful planned mural on that wall, there was a gaping hole in the damaged plaster.
“I knew something would spoil our Christmas!” Jonathan cried…”I know you believe God always has a plan, but what plan could have brought us here?” Jonathan sobbed. “We worked so hard, then God sent a blizzard. I don’t understand.” In that moment Jonathan’s “why” had no good answer.
After the snowfall their car wouldn’t start, so Jonathan and his father took a public bus into Detroit. On their return, they passed an antique store and on impulse purchased a beautiful fabric wall hanging. As they awaited the arrival of the bus, they chatted with an elderly lady who shared hot tea and raisin cookies with them, so they offered save her two bus rides by driving her to her house from theirs. When they arrived back at their church, with the old woman patiently waiting for her ride, they quickly hung up the wall hanging, much to her surprise and astonishment.
The old lady walked up to the cloth, took out a pair of glasses and looked at it closely. “I made this!” she said in a whisper. Tears streamed down her face. “In Germany…almost sixty years ago. I sewed it with my own hands.” She held the cloth with her gnarled fingers. “My applique…my family symbols…there—do you see, child?”
“Are you sure?” Reverend Weeks asked. This was impossible!
She lifted one of the corners, looked, then sighed. “Those are my initials.” Jonathan could see three letters. I stitched them there myself when I was about to become a bride….Many years ago when I married, this was used as my wedding Chuppah – the canopy over me and my beloved….Then the Nazis came….When they came, my young husband was torn from my arms. We were separated….I shall never forget his sweet eyes, the way he looked at me. I never saw him again. We were all sent to concentration camps….”
In life there can be many “why’s” and some of them are huge. Over the 25 years between the promise and the birth of his son Abram must have wondered “why” it was taking so long. Over the nine months of her illicit pregnancy, Mary must have wondered “why” she was chosen.
Ever had your own “why’s” that didn’t seem to have immediate answers?
Yeah, me, too.
Unlike a picture book, sometimes our “why’s” are never answered or are answered years later. Jonathan’s answers came through what in real life would be called a series of God-miracles. I can’t tell the rest of Jonathan’s story without giving away too much. However, by the end of the book,
Johnathan Jefferson Weeks thought his heart would burst at the pure joy of the season…and the wonder of all the events that had taken place. Now he knew exactly why they moved to Detroit exactly when they did. He knew why the plaster fell, why the car didn’t start..why it was so bitter and cold that he and his father had shared tea with a lonely old woman. It was all so seamless, woven so perfectly. Woven as beautifully and surely as Jonathan’s radiant cloth that hung at the front of his church. it was all, truly, a Christmas Tapestry.
Just get your box of tissues and buy the hardcover. Seriously. This book is that good. You, your children, and your grandchildren will be blessed by this story.
Lest you think I’m being paid for my critique or recommendation of these Christmas books (I’m not!), I’ll say again: God can speak through things that don’t seem to be “Christian” things. And God does speak to us when we ask “why.” Sometimes he answers (sooner or later) and sometimes we never seem to receive an answer. But hear these words from the Father’s heart:
I love you. I have loved you from the beginning of time and I will love you until time is no more. I see every tear that falls from your eyes. I know every hurt, every fear, every worry that torments you. I know every “why” with which you wrestle and every mystery with which you struggle. My heart aches when you ache. My Son died so that you could have me with you in the form of Holy Spirit for always and forever. We want you forgiven, freed, healed, peaceful, kind, loving, gracious, joyful. Our invitation is to a place of trust in us. Trust your Heavenly Father, trust that Emmanuel is with you, trust that Holy Spirit is comforting and guiding you. Trust our Love for you. When we call you to places you don’t expect to go, know that we are with you. When you walk through times that feel like fire or flood, you will not be burned and you will not drown. Do not be afraid for I am with you, even when the “why’s” don’t seem to have answers. I am the Lord your God who gave Jesus for your ransom. You are precious and honored in my sight. I love you. – Abba
AMEN.
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” (Isaiah 43:1-5 NIV)