By Nora Matossian
Issue #10: Summer 2006, CAMP AREV NEWSLETTER, USA
"Why?”—That always seems to be the only question on our minds during any period of struggling we may encounter, however serious it may be. A huge burden is lifted away once that question has been answered even if the problem still exists. Wouldn’t it be great if there was always an answer to “Why is this happening to me?"
The first thing that one should realize is that God has a purpose; the problems come when we do not trust in that purpose. God knows what He is doing, why He is doing it, and how He is going to do it—all in the perfect way. In the gospel of John, we see Jesus acknowledging the Father’s perfect plan and authority for His own life. He says, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day”(6:38-40). Jesus’ words indicate His devotion to the Father and to all that is in store for Him during His earthly ministry, even the difficulties and trials.
So what was the Father’s will for Christ? We see how Jesus, when washing the disciples’ feet even washed those of Judas, the very disciple who betrayed Him with a kiss soon after—God’s will, betrayal by a friend. We see how the chief priests sought to put Jesus to death for something as harmless as raising Lazarus from the dead—God’s will, condemnation for innocence. We even see Jesus, as He prays in the Garden, ask “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me… but not My will but Yours be done”—God’s will, the cup of wrath for the Lamb of God.
Therefore, when Jesus said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me,” we can see that Jesus submitted to carrying out all that was before Him because the Father was in control, and He knew that. He didn’t have to ask “Why?” when everything was against Him because He knew that all that is needed is for the Father to be with Him. We have that same promise as well: Romans says that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even, “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or sword.”
The answer to all our “Whys?” is simply this: the very same God, “who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,”(Rom 8:31) is for us, with us, planning for us, guiding us; and He has only one way to do it—the best way. So when those problems come along, we can be assured that even in our sorrows and tribulations, there is Christ who made Himself an example—He showed us how to deal with suffering by acknowledging the Father’s perfect will and doing it wholeheartedly. We can do the same because we have Christ’s example before us, His Spirit in us, and on top of it all, the same Father who seeks to gather together all His “heirs of promise”(Heb 6:17).
Issue #10: Summer 2006, CAMP AREV NEWSLETTER, USA
"Why?”—That always seems to be the only question on our minds during any period of struggling we may encounter, however serious it may be. A huge burden is lifted away once that question has been answered even if the problem still exists. Wouldn’t it be great if there was always an answer to “Why is this happening to me?"The first thing that one should realize is that God has a purpose; the problems come when we do not trust in that purpose. God knows what He is doing, why He is doing it, and how He is going to do it—all in the perfect way. In the gospel of John, we see Jesus acknowledging the Father’s perfect plan and authority for His own life. He says, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day”(6:38-40). Jesus’ words indicate His devotion to the Father and to all that is in store for Him during His earthly ministry, even the difficulties and trials.
So what was the Father’s will for Christ? We see how Jesus, when washing the disciples’ feet even washed those of Judas, the very disciple who betrayed Him with a kiss soon after—God’s will, betrayal by a friend. We see how the chief priests sought to put Jesus to death for something as harmless as raising Lazarus from the dead—God’s will, condemnation for innocence. We even see Jesus, as He prays in the Garden, ask “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me… but not My will but Yours be done”—God’s will, the cup of wrath for the Lamb of God.
Therefore, when Jesus said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me,” we can see that Jesus submitted to carrying out all that was before Him because the Father was in control, and He knew that. He didn’t have to ask “Why?” when everything was against Him because He knew that all that is needed is for the Father to be with Him. We have that same promise as well: Romans says that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even, “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or sword.”
The answer to all our “Whys?” is simply this: the very same God, “who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,”(Rom 8:31) is for us, with us, planning for us, guiding us; and He has only one way to do it—the best way. So when those problems come along, we can be assured that even in our sorrows and tribulations, there is Christ who made Himself an example—He showed us how to deal with suffering by acknowledging the Father’s perfect will and doing it wholeheartedly. We can do the same because we have Christ’s example before us, His Spirit in us, and on top of it all, the same Father who seeks to gather together all His “heirs of promise”(Heb 6:17).