Why Me ?

"Why Me?"
is the first question we ask when tragedy strikes. I know I did, more then once!

For some of us, the same question pops up when we have a flat tire. Or get a cold. Or get caught in a freak rain/snow shower. The color of the carpet in the sanctuary gets changed without you knowing.

Why Me, God?
Somewhere along the way, we have become convinced that life should be wonderful all the time. If you are a Christian, you may believe God should protect you from every hardship, large and small. God is good, so life should be fair. But life isn't fair.
You learn that lesson early from the schoolyard bully or a clique of cruel girls/boys. Just about the time you forget, you're reminded with another painful lesson that it hurts as much as it did when you were ten years old.


Why the Answer to "Why Me?" is Not Satisfying
From a biblical perspective, things started to go wrong with the Fall, but that's not a very satisfying answer when things go wrong with us, personally.
Even if we know the theological explanations, they bring no comfort in a hospital room or in a shut-in's home, or a funeral home.
We want down to earth answers, not textbook theories about evil. We want to know why our own life is so miserable.
We can ask "Why Me?" until the Second Coming, but we never seem to get a response, or at least one that brings understanding to us. We never feel the "light bulb" go on so we can say, "Ah, so that explains it," and then get on with our lives.
Instead, we're left groping with why so many bad things happen to us while seems like the godless people are prospering. and us who obey God are doing the very best of our abilities, but things keep going wrong. What gives?

Why? I think we have become spoiled!

It's not just that we think our lives should be good because God is good. We have been so conditioned in our western culture to have a low pain threshold, both physically and emotionally.
We have shelves full of pain relievers to choose from, and people who don't like those turn to alcohol or illegal drugs. TV commercials tell us to pamper ourselves. Any type of unpleasantness is treated like an insult to our own happiness.
For most of us, famine, the ravages of war, and epidemics are images we watch on the news, though it is real it is not something we have to deal with firsthand.
When then suffering hits home, instead of asking "Why Me?", why don't we ask, "Why Not Me Too?"
Stumbling toward Christian maturity, it's become a cliché to say we learn our most valuable lessons in pain, not pleasure, but if we are serious about our Christianity, we eventually learn during our pain to keep our eyes on one thing and one thing only: Jesus Christ.
While physical pain can be overwhelming, it is not the most important thing in life. Jesus is. Experiencing financial loss can be devastating, but it really doesn't matters. Jesus is what should matter. The death or loss of a loved one leaves an unbearable vacuum in your days and nights. But Jesus Christ is still there.
When we ask "Why Me?", we make our circumstances more important than Jesus. We forget the temporaries of this life and the eternity of life is with Him. Our hurt's makes us overlook the fact that this life is preparation and heaven is the great payoff!!

One of the most mature of Christians, Paul, told us where to look: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV)
It's hard to keep our eyes on the prize of Jesus, but He is what makes sense when nothing else does. When He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life." (John 14:6, NIV), Jesus was showing us the path through our "Why Me?" experiences.
Pain can only delay us.
Suffering is so unfair. It kidnaps our attention and tries to force us to look at our pain and take focus off Christ. But there's something suffering cannot do. It cannot steal Jesus Christ from us. A Great Amen....
You may be going through a terrible ordeal at this moment, such as divorce or unemployment or serious illness, or like me which I am in major pain that never goes way. It is constant.
You and I don't deserve it, but there's no way out. We have to keep going. We can manage this with the help of the Holy Spirit; just keep our eyes focused on Christ and the great reward of heaven. Let us not focus on the issue for this will only bring us down.
With Jesus, you and I WILL make it through this journey of life. Pain may be an unavoidable detour, but it cannot keep us from reaching our final destination.
Some day, you and I will stand face to face with our Savior. We will gaze on the beauty of our new home, filled with never ending love. We will look at the nail scars in Jesus' hands.
We will know our unworthiness to be there, and we will be filled with gratitude and humility, then we will ask, "Why Me?"*





* As I was preparing for a devotional for today... I ran across this one in file. However it was not finish. As I looked it over, it spoke to me deeply. It was like God speaking to me, and refreshing what I already new! The meds the Doctors give me, acts like bandaid....
so many people ask me how I deal with all this pain. The answer is Jesus.
In the past week or so God has given me this blog, I believe it so my voice could be heard. I praise Jesus today for loving me, and I am looking ahead for better days!