by Kala Loptien

Why did God do that?

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking the Sound Cloud link. 

To grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
Isaiah 61:3 English Standard Version 

In a previous post, I shared one of the questions our analytical six-year-old daughter posed recently. I felt inclined to share another; because I have a feeling it’s one we’ve all wondered at some point in our lives. Not shockingly, this was in the car, where most great convos with kids tend to happen. She was asking about God’s sovereignty (in her own lingo, of course). As she processed her distressing story, she asked why she had to go through “hard things.” She also asked if God knows who will be mean. Her next question required a long pause and some quick praying. She said, “Then why did God put me with those people?”

Gulp. That was one of the toughest questions I’d ever been asked. How do you begin to unpack it all? We had to swiftly address the fact that God does not cause evil. God is good all the time. He works for the good of those who love Him. He wants all people to know Him, profess Jesus as Savior and obey His commands. He has good, prosperous plans for us. His love conquers and covers all because it never fails. He will never leave us. Because sin entered the world, there will always be mean people, loss, sadness, pain and poor choices. The devil (aka, “sneaky snake”) spreads lies like wildfire, with evil and harm in mind. But Jesus defeated death, sin and the devil by dying on the cross.

Though we will never fully understand the reasoning or have the fullness of knowledge to reconcile the “why’s” we know that God loves us with an everlasting love. He can make all things new; good out of evil; beauty from ashes.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado