I have shared part of this post before, telling how I finally came to terms with my grief over my dad’s passing. But I’m sharing it again because the overall message seems to apply today for many, if not most of us.
Right now the world seems out of control with the virus, quarantines, conflict, chaos, fear, and the unknown. Are things ever going to be ‘normal’ again? Or what is ‘normal’ going to look like in 6 months or a year? In my lifetime I have already experienced one event (9/11) that forever changed what our ‘normal’ looked like. Is this another such time?
It seems to be easy to wonder where God is in all of this. Some have an image of an angry, vengeful God who is punishing our planet. Some wonder if God has abandoned us. Others are sure this is the end of times and the world is going to end. And still others believe there is no such being as God.
I do believe that God is there, He hasn’t stopped loving us, but His ways and thoughts are so much higher than our ways and thoughts. And I think in the same way that I came to be at peace with the passing of my dad, we can all take comfort that God is in control and knows what he is doing.
So, from my own archives here is what I wrote and called “Oh God”. Substitute my story with your story or circumstances and hopefully, you will also realize that we don’t have to wonder “WHY” and can rest in the knowledge that God is in control.
Oh God
Oh God, please tell me it isn’t true, tell me this hasn’t happened! Please let this just be a terrible nightmare. This can’t be happening, how could you do this to me? It isn’t fair, God, it just isn’t fair! It’s my birthday, I’m finally a teenager, that’s supposed to be a cool thing, but now you did this! You let this happen….WHY?
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. I ALONE AM GOD. MY WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS. I AM WHO I AM.
God, this just doesn’t make sense. I loved him so much. He was always there for me, making sure I had what I needed. He loved me; he protected me, taught me, cared for me. Now he’s gone, you’ve taken him from me! Is this some sort of cruel joke? … WHY?
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. I ALONE AM GOD. MY WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS. I AM WHO I AM.
God, he loved YOU. He lived his life for you. He brought me up to believe that You are good and loving. He served you with his whole life, and now you’ve taken that very life from him. You killed my father; how can you be so cruel, uncaring, and heartless…WHY?
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. I ALONE AM GOD. MY WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS. I AM WHO I AM.
God, I need him so much. Who will teach me to grow into a man? To whom will I turn to ask all those questions that sons ask their dads? I’m only 13; I’m too young to be the man of the house. I need my daddy to lean on. All my friends do things with their dads; you didn’t take them…WHY?
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. I ALONE AM GOD. MY WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS. I AM WHO I AM.
God, I hope you’re happy now. I’m 17; I just got kicked out of school. I’m what all of the goody-two-shoes call a stoner. But you know what God, when I’m stoned it doesn’t hurt so badly. For a little while, I can forget what you did to me. But then it comes back; I’m the stoner with no dad…WHY?
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. I ALONE AM GOD. MY WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS. I AM WHO I AM.
God, it’s 1989 now, and I still don’t understand. Sure you got me out of that drug mess, and sure you got me into Bible College; but God, it still hurts, and I can’t forget what you did. I needed him when I was in all that trouble, I needed him when I went off to college, I needed him when I got married, I needed him, but YOU took him away from me…WHY?
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. I ALONE AM GOD. MY WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS. I AM WHO I AM.
God, my two daughters will never have the joy of knowing their Grandpa, they don’t even know him as a real person, and he’s just a name to them. And God, when my marriage fell apart, I needed him so bad. My daddy always knew what to do. But he wasn’t there because you killed him. And when I met Debbie, I know he would have been so happy, he would have loved her so much because of how happy she makes me. God…WHY?
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. I ALONE AM GOD. MY WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS. I AM WHO I AM.
God, it was 30 years ago today [47 years ago] and it still hurts so badly. I still miss my daddy, and I still don’t understand it. But God, I kneel before YOU…still…and I know that You ARE God. You alone are God. Your ways are higher than my ways. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. LORD GOD ALMIGHTY; and because you ARE, I no longer ask why.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Matthew 6:31-34
If you have any thoughts or comments about this, feel free to post in the comments section below.