When we cry "WHY?!"

Satan appeared before God complaining about Job:

Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. (Job 1:10 KJV)

Why shouldn’t job praise God as a righteous man? He was blessed by God in all things. Why wouldn’t he expect that to continue as long as he and God had a good relationship. Or, consider a man born blind:

And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2 KJV)

This question didn’t come from someone trying to catch our Lord with a legal trickery – it came from those who traveled with Him, who still believed that bad things happen to sinners. Jesus knew better:

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. (John 9:3 KJV)

Realize that explanation did not change any of the past, any more than Job’s losses. Grief, pain, anger – all those emotions are with us when tragedy strikes. Job grieved for his children:

Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground,

. . . and remembered his God:

and worshipped, (Job 1:20 KJV)

Long discussions later, Job speaks to God:

Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. (Job 42:1-3 KJV)

We do not understand tragedy any more than Job understood it. We do not know what is in God’s mind, either. Job had not sinned, neither had the blind man, nor his parents. Yet their stories are included in God’s word and we attempt to apply the lessons to our own lives.

What Job did know, and the blind man saw, was God’s work. Paul believed that work continued:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 KJV)

He also believed that God provides sufficiently:

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (2 Corinthians 9:8 KJV)

When tragedy does occur in our lives, we’ve been given hope:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalms 46:1 KJV)

He has the ability to apply peace beyond our ability to understand:

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 KJV)

Ask Him, not just for everything, but about anything – even our grief and anger.