All of us have been in situations where we cried out, “Why me?” Sometimes we truly seek to know why and other times it is with a sense of frustration that we ask the question.

We are not always seeking information when we ask questions. So, if we recognize the fact that Jesus began to teach the apostles about the cross (Matt.16) a year before the event, it is crystal clear He knew exactly why He was there.

Learning something of the horrors of His suffering that night—mental, physical, and spiritual—we marvel at His stamina, exhibited in the dark hours leading up to the cross. C.F. Alexander wrote:

We may not know, we cannot tell what pain He had to bear,
But we believe it was for us He hung and suffered there.

As believers, we may find an urge to cry out for insight concerning our suffering. There is no sin in wanting to know the reason for our pain. Sin only enters the situation when we demand answers from our Father in heaven. We must realize that the Lord does not answer to us, rather we must give an account to Him.

Dear reader, come to your Father in heaven today and pour out your complaint. Confess your frustration, your confusion, and ask for relief or at least a reason.

Take a few moments to read Job 2 and 3. Ponder the difference in Job’s attitude toward his suffering as seen in Job 2 vs. Job 3. You may learn something about how some Godly people respond to great sorrow. Since Job receives no censure from the Lord in the context, we believe his expression of confusion, ignorance and “Why?” is reasonable in such situations. But read the following poem and consider how to deal with painful circumstances. May you be blessed as you seek to be submissive and wise in times of trouble.

Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life,
Where, in spite of all you can do,
There is no way out, there is no way back,
There is no other way but through?
Then wait on the Lord, with a trust serene,
Till the night of your fear is gone;
He will send the winds, He will heap the floods,
When He says to your soul, “Go on!”

And His hand shall lead you through, clear through,
Ere the watery walls roll down;
No wave can touch you, no foe can smite,
No mightiest sea can drown.
The tossing billows may rear their crests,
Their foam at your feet may break,
But over their bed you shall walk dry-shod
In the path that your Lord shall make.

In the morning watch, 'neath the lifted cloud,
You shall see but the Lord alone,
When He leads you forth from the place of the sea,
To a land that you have not known;
And your fears shall pass as your foes have passed,
You shall no more be afraid;
You shall sing His praise in a better place,
In a place that His hand hath made.

- Anne Johnson Flint