I guess it stayed with me because of the poignancy of the moment. Maybe it was the dreams that had been compromised? Or possibly it was the deep, intense pain contained in the footage? I remember. I'll probably always remember.
This week I've been presented with several "WHY?" moments - deep, intense pain that spills over from one life to another. And I've been left with incredible feelings of inadequacy as I'm compelled to try to sooth the pain. Sometimes things happen in our lives that escape our understanding. For those of us with faith, there are days we're down on our knees begging God, with great emotion, to explain, "WHY?" And there are not always answers immediately forthcoming.
I've noticed there are some phrases Christians turn to when faced with these situations. They're easy. They're scriptural. They're always close at hand. "God gives you the desires of your heart" and "God's timing is perfect" are two of those phrases. I hear them all the time. I don't question the statements. I accept them as truths. But accepting them as a truth and believing or living them are two different things.
I've been challenged with this thought for the last several years in my own life. I've been challenged enough to stop saying these phrases when trying to comfort others. Instead, I've gotten a little more personal in sharing my faith. Because even though I don't have any answers to why these things happen - and especially why things don't happen for good people who are worthy of good things - I believe there is a reason these things we want do and do not happen. I accept I may never know these answers. And I continue to believe despite the sadness this can bring.
Life doesn't always turn out as we want or expect, but with faith, it can turn out better than we imagined. I believe that. I still ask "WHY?", but I've found that accepting I may never know the answer makes for a much less bitter me. And finding joy despite the "why" is an important battle to win.
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