Why God?

A series on the book of Hebrews:
God disciplines His children
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Hebrews 12:1-29 

[When you first start to follow Christ, often it’s done with great excitement. It’s like falling in love when all you can think about is the other person, and you want to tell everyone you know. But then the day-to-day pressures of living can push out those feelings and dull your enthusiasm. In this series, we will look at how the author of Hebrews tried to counteract falling out of love with Jesus.]

  

Have you ever cried out to God asking, “Why God?” One of the most painful times in my life occurred a few years after getting married. My wife was pregnant for our first child. We did everything we could to prepare for the new arrival.

 

We painted and wallpapered the nursery; bought a rocking chair for holding our baby while feeding; refinished the highchair I had used as a baby; assembled the crib; and had a baby shower. But then the unthinkable happened!

 

My wife went in for her regular prenatal checkup with our family doctor. When he wasn’t able to find a heartbeat, he immediately sent her to the hospital. They did an ultrasound, also not detecting a heartbeat. An OBGYN told us that our baby was still born! Why God! It wasn’t so much a question as it was a cry for help.

 

The Hebrews knew that feeling. They had given everything they had to follow Jesus. Made every sacrifice with the hope and expectation that he would return. They had suffered through persecution – but still nothing. It had gotten to the point where they were ready to reject Christ. “Why God”!

 

That’s when the anonymous writer of Hebrews stepped in. He wrote how Jesus was superior to their Jewish heritage, beliefs and traditions. In fact, he was the fulfillment of them. He reasoned with the Hebrews; he quoted Old Testament scripture; he warned them of consequences; he listed faithful followers.

 

Finally, in this chapter, he reminded them that God is like their earthly father who guided them through loving discipline. But, as their Heavenly Father, God’s goal was for them to draw closer to him and to grow in their faith.

 

¹⁰ For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.      NLT

 

However, not only was the Lord’s discipline for them to become holy and righteous, but also it was proof of his love.

 

⁵ “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and don’t give up when he corrects you.
⁶ For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
    and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”            NLT

 

God is not only a disciplining parent who loves us, but also a demanding coach who pushes us. He pushes us to go beyond what we think we’re capable of; to go beyond our self-imposed boundaries; to go beyond our own self-centered interests. Ultimately, he wants us to go beyond ourselves to help others.

 

The writer instructed the Hebrews to live lives that would share the ‘joy of redemption’ and ‘hope for restoration’ with those around them; to be an example for others to follow; to help others work through their own pain and suffering.

 

¹⁴ Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it.       GNT

 

Sometimes there are no easy answers when we cry out to God. But no matter what, we can know for sure that he loves us, is always with us and understands our pain. After all, his own son whom he loved cried out with the same question. “Why God”!

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

Rejected and Forgotten

“Where are you God?” - A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 74

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2074&version=NIV;TPT

 

In the summer of 1978, my wife and I were expecting our first child. Many preparations were made in anticipation of the arrival including painting and wall papering the nursery; buying a rocking chair for those middle of the night feedings; and refinishing the high chair that I used as a baby.

 

The preparations were wonderful, but then, something awful happened. While my wife was at her weekly pre-natal checkup, they couldn’t find the baby’s heartbeat. At the hospital they eventually determined that the baby was still born.

 

When I went home that night, everything seemed wrong. The high chair, the nursery and the rocking chair were only painful reminders of the lost baby that we would never hold or feed or change her diapers.

 

We’ve all experienced loss. Something that was unexpectedly ripped away from you. Something that was foundational to your life. It might have been your career calling; a broken relationship; or the death of a loved one. When it happened, you knew that your life would never be the same.

 

For Asaph, who wrote Psalm 74, it was the destruction of the Temple. Here’s how he described it.

 

⁵ Now everything is in shambles! They’ve totally destroyed it. Like a forest chopped down to the ground, there’s nothing’s left. ⁶ All of the beauty of the craftsmanship of the inner place has been ruined, smashed, broken, and shattered. ⁷ They’ve burned it all to the ground. They’ve violated your sanctuary, the very dwelling place of your glory and your name. ⁸ They boasted, “Let’s completely crush them! Let’s wipe out every trace of this God. Let’s burn up every sacred place where they worship this God.”                 TPT

 

Where is God when it hurts? When you feel rejected and forgotten? He’s right there. And truthfully, He never left you.

 

¹² You have always been, and always will be, my King.
You are the mighty conqueror, working wonders all over the world.          TPT

 

 

 

 

Why God?

John 14:22-27

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014%3A22-27&version=NIV;AMP

 

Have you ever asked this question? I know I have. Twice that sticks in my mind. Once when my fiancé dumped me during my sophomore year of college. After about six months I was able to give an answer to the question. God used her rejection to bring me to the point of turning my life over to Him; to draw me closer to Him.

 

The next time wasn’t as easy to figure out. My wife was pregnant with our first child when something went terribly wrong. We went to the hospital at about eight months, and were told that the baby would be still born. Looking back on it, even now after over forty years, I still can’t answer the question, “Why God”.

 

¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.           John 14:18-19 NIV



 

²² Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, what has happened that You are going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?”      AMP

 

Even the disciples asked the question, “Why God”. Maybe not in those exact words, but essentially that’s what they were asking. The disciples were expecting Jesus to become the political leader of Israel; to overthrow the Romans and anyone else in power.

 

Sometimes we just don’t get it do we. The Israelites certainly didn’t get it while wandering in the wilderness. The disciples didn’t get it as Jesus was giving them his last minute instructions before being crucified. And we don’t get it when we’re in the middle of struggling with life.

 

But God has a plan and you are a part of it. You may not understand it right now. You may not understand it in forty years. But God has a plan and He is working it. The question to ask is not “Why God”, but “What is your plan God, and how can I be a part of it”. Then trust the Spirit to lead you.

 

²⁶ But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.  AMP

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deja’ Vu All Over Again

(This is not my normal devotional thought for the week but my thoughts and observations following one of those life changing events that often occur in our lives.)

 

 

 

Like the old Yogi Berra quote, “It’s like Deja’ vu all over again”.

 

I can still remember it like it was yesterday. Walking into the empty house, going into the kitchen where the high chair was sitting. It was July 14, 1978. Debbie had delivered our still born daughter earlier that day. She was staying at the hospital overnight while I came home to all the reminders of the baby that we would never know.

 

The refinished high chair, which was a family heirloom. The nursery, which Debbie’s sister Janice had wall papered. The little stuffed sunshine that my parents gave us. It played “You are My Sunshine”. We both had broken hearts because nothing could replace the child that we would never know.

 

On Friday, May 20, 2016, I walked into an empty house around 10pm. After a very long day that had started about 12:30am that morning, I was looking forward to relaxing by sitting down in front of the TV to watch a movie that I had recorded earlier and drinking a glass of wine.

 

But there on Debbie’s ottoman was the blanket, rice sock and pillow that she had used only the night before to nurse her knee that had had knee replacement surgery only five weeks ago. The memories from 1978 came rushing back into my head. How close I had almost come to never having Debbie to return to at home again.

 

When we left in the morning we were concerned but had no idea of the severity of the situation. At Dublin Methodist, the first diagnosis was a heart attack. This was based on an EKG that they had taken and compared to the one Debbie had had prior to her knee replacement surgery.

 

This was the worst possible scenario. Her family history was horrendous. Her Father and brother had died from massive heart attacks. Her mother had died from hardening of the arteries. Not a good prognosis.

 

The staff at Dublin Methodist were caring and efficient following all the protocols for such a situation. A half dozen or more people came into her room to do what needed to be done. Finally the squad arrived that would transport her to Riverside Methodist.

 

Everybody seemed urgent in their tasks but not hectic or panicky like it was an emergency. However, I found out later that the squad drove with their lights flashing and siren blaring as they sped down the highway.

 

Following her emergency heart catheterization, the doctor told me that Debbie had not had a heart attack but suffered from stress-induced cardiomyopathy, or “Broken Heart Syndrome”.

 

As it turns out, if you’re going to have heart attack symptoms, this is the best diagnosis because there is no permanent damage to the heart. In fact, the heart heals itself and the recovery is normally quick and complete with no reoccurrence of the syndrome.

 

We’d already suffered a broken heart once, I’m glad for the outcome this time.

 

On the following Sunday, Jerry’s sermon title was “Finding Joy in Rejoicing”. It was based on Philippians 4:4 which states: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice”.

 

This is a nice saying but in the crucible of life, how realistic is it? When the squad is flying down the highway with sirens blaring and lights flashing, how can we be expected to rejoice, let alone find joy?

 

The bottom line through all of this is that God is sovereign; that He is in control; that He has the final word. Not pain or suffering. When we realize that, then we can rejoice in the Lord always.