Have Faith That God Knows The ‘Why’

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ (Isaiah 46:10); ‘“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.’ (Isaiah 55:8)

The anniversary of 9/11 has passed; it is now 23 years since the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center have occurred.  Also, the attacks against Israel on 7 October 2023 are closing in on its 1-year anniversary.  Both events were tragic, but both also has indications prior to their execution that something of this magnitude would be happening, but unfortunately complacency fell upon us (and our leaders).  No one would believe anything of the magnitude of these events would happen, and when they did, they were a huge surprise.  Preventing or mitigating these events was possible if we were paying attention.

The facts are that we did not pay attention during the leadup to these events, leaving us unprepared and surprised.  Both events were a big shock to all of us, both us who bore witness to the events and we who the events directly affected.  The One who was not surprised by these events is God.  God, being timeless, knew these would occur, and allowed them to play out.  Why God would allow over 3,000 to die during 9/11 and 1,200 to die on 10/7 is a mystery to us, but not to God.  His plans may not always make sense to us, but they don’t need to. 

As stated in Isaiah 46:10, God will do all that pleases Him, and He will also allow things to occur that ultimately will glorify Him.  We may not see the deaths of thousands as being ‘glorifying’, but what we may not realize are the tens or possibly hundreds of thousands of people afterwards who sought Him out to receive the Salvation of Christ and now worship His Name, which is glorifying to Him.   

The prophet Isaiah speaks of God’s plans and his way throughout his book; The 2nd verse (Isaiah 55:8) is more well-known and directly speaks toward the plans of God being His alone.  We may not have much bearing in His decisions (there is some sway we can request through prayer and application of our Faith, if they align to His plan), but our sensibilities or perception of ‘right and wrong’ do not influence what God will do. 

We look at David and Bathsheba, and their illegitimate child; why would God allow that child to die?  Why does God allow any child to suffer illness or injury?  Some may look at that and think that was ‘wrong’ of God to allow these things, but God’s purpose or plan was to allow that child to die, to allow that to be what David and Bathsheba to suffer and move forward.  Later they would be the parents of Solomon, legitimate and worthy to succeed David as king.  Perhaps a death of a child, one that may have had great physical problems, alleviates parents from a burden that would later restrict what God has planned.  We may not understand ‘why’, but we must have Faith in God knowing ‘why’. 

As we remember 9/11, with many young men dying that day, it may be better not to ask ‘why’, but to honor their sacrifice provided to allow God’s plan to have Al-Qaida and ISIS and now Hamas defeated at the right time, to allow the history God had planned all along to come to fruition.  Their deaths, while tragic, fulfilled God’s promise to give us who live today ‘the Hope and the Future’ He provides.  It is probable, highly probable, that more such events will occur – even worse than these.  Such events have occurred; world wars, civil wars, genocides, pandemics.  Millions have died and much more have suffered and it is possible it will happen again, in our lifetimes.

We see the current escalation of tensions between NATO and Russia, the US and China, Iran and Israel, even Pakistan and India.  Any of these may literally explode in an instant.  Should this happen, we must see these things as in God’s perfect plan and will to be done, and try to understand His ways are not necessarily what we may want to happen, but they are what needs to happen to reveal to us God’s plan.  What we need to understand is that we need to learn not to be complacent, but instead to first to be obedient to the Great Commission and go provide the Gospel message to all we meet, and also be prepared, be aware, and plan accordingly, and much as we can be, to whatever may occur so we can help others in the aftermath and be the light of Jesus in those times.