When God doesn’t Make Sense

Supporting Texts: Isaiah 55:8–9, John 11:1–6, Job 42:1–6

Introduction

We all believe certain things about God.

God is good.

God loves us.

God hears our prayers.

God is faithful.

But what happens when our experience doesn't seem to agree with what we believe about God?

If God is good, why does He allow bad things to happen?

If God hears us, why doesn't He answer?

If God loves us, why does He sometimes allow us to go through painful situations?

Can we trust God when we don't understand what He is doing?

DISCUSSION

1. WHEN GOD DOESN'T DO WHAT WE EXPECT

Consider Lazarus. Jesus loved Lazarus, knew he was sick, and had the power to heal him.

Yet, In John 11:5–6

"Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place..."

Jesus loved him.
Jesus knew.
Jesus delayed.

QUESTION

If you were Mary or Martha, would that make sense to you?

Sometimes our difficulty with God begins when what we expect Him to do is different from what He actually does.

2. OUR UNDERSTANDING HAS LIMITS

Isaiah 55:8–9

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways..."

God doesn't see things from our perspective.

We see today. God sees the beginning and the end.

We see the situation. God sees the purpose.

QUESTION

Can something make no sense to us and still make perfect sense from God's perspective?

3. WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE QUESTIONS?

The Bible doesn't tell us to stop asking questions.

David asked, "How long, O LORD?" Psalm 13:1

Habakkuk asked, "How long shall I cry?" Habakkuk 1:2

So the issue isn't whether we can ask God why. The real question is;

What do I do when God doesn't give me an answer?

Do I stop trusting Him?

Or do I trust His character even when I don't understand His actions?

4. WHEN WE DON'T KNOW, WE OFTEN ASSUME

Job's friends saw his suffering and immediately created an explanation.

Job is suffering → therefore Job must have sinned. It sounded logical, but God later said Job 42:7 "Ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right..."

QUESTION

Is it possible to have an explanation for what God is doing and still be completely wrong?

Sometimes "I don't know" is more faithful than a wrong explanation.

5. TRUST WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING

Proverbs 3:5–6; "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

Notice what the Bible says; Trust, not Understand everything.

Faith is not saying "I understand what God is doing."

Faith is saying "I don't understand what God is doing, but I trust who God is."

THINK ABOUT IT

If we only trust God when everything makes sense, are we really trusting God?

CONCLUSION

There will be times when God makes sense. There will also be times when He doesn't.

The question is not "Can I explain everything God is doing?"

The question is "Can I trust God when I cannot explain it?"

And perhaps that is where real faith begins.

Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."