I’ve got this dog. Dexter. He’s a mixed-breed rescue, and he’s got a few issues. He’s a little over-protective of his family, but he’s a fantastic guard dog. He ignores me when I call him, unless it involves food, but at the first sound of thunder or a gun shot he’s in my lap trembling. He doesn’t know how to play, and he sleeps a lot, but he gets great joy from sliding head-first down steep hills on his back. He knows how to work sad puppy dog eyes better than anyone, but he has an adorable smile. We love him, but, lately, he’s been sad.

You see, last week, after several days of odd behavior (odd even for him), we discovered that Dexter has diabetes. So, his life has had to change. Besides enduring twice daily injections, Dexter has had to learn to eat a strict diet on a strict schedule–the same food, every meal, at the same time of day, with zero snacks or treats in between. For a dog used to yummy dog treats and raw carrots as rewards, and occasional popcorn or even table scraps, he is devastated.

Dexter may think he is in some kind of trouble. He hasn’t had a single treat in a week, but every time he comes in from a walk he still runs to the door where the treats are kept, expecting his reward. And when it doesn’t come, his ears droop, he sits in a tight little ball, and he brings out those pitiful eyes. Oh, those eyes! Then he starts tapping my leg, just to make sure I know he’s there. Waiting patiently. Feeling sad, confused, and deprived. Hurt. I believe he thinks I don’t love him anymore. But I do, of course. It’s because I care about him that I am restricting him from those things he enjoys so much. But he doesn’t understand that. He has no idea that, if I wasn’t withholding those delicious treats, he might get sicker, and even die.

Why?

How often are we in Dexter’s predicament? We are cruising along in life, when suddenly everything starts to fall apart. The promotion you’ve been working toward for the past five years goes to the new guy who arrives late and leaves early every single day. After months of searching, you finally find your dream home, only to lose the bid on it by just a thousand dollars. A previously healthy spouse or child becomes extremely ill. Your parent is in an accident and is facing painful, long-term rehabilitation, and you are the lone caregiver. Or maybe you got a flat tire, in the middle of the interstate, at rush hour, on the way to catch a flight to visit your best friend in hospice, for the final time. Any of those scenarios would leave us feeling distressed and asking questions, the first of which would probably be, “Why?” “Why me?” “Why now?” “Why at all?”

When Joseph’s own brothers sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:28), I doubt that he was thinking, “Well, that’s okay, because I’m eventually going to be Pharaoh’s second in command, and in about 22 years I’ll save my family, and the entire nation of Israel from starvation” (Genesis 37-46). No. My guess is that, while being led away in chains, he was asking God, “Why?”

As Moses’ mother, Jochebed, placed her baby boy in a waterproofed basket in the Nile, trying to save his life, she wasn’t comforted with the knowledge that eventually he would grow up and become a prophet of God, instrumental in freeing the Israelites from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 1-14). No. At the edge of the Nile she had to have been grief stricken, and she was probably asking God, “Why?”

Facing a furnace “heated seven times hotter than usual” (Daniel 3:19 NLT), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren’t anticipating a heavenly visitor, a promotion, and a changed king who praised their God with them (Daniel 3). No. Facing a furious king and a raging fire, they proclaimed their faith, but undoubtedly also felt fear, and wondered, “Why?”

By His Power, For His Glory

God is sovereign and He is omnipotent. That means He is in charge of absolutely everything and He is all-powerful, able to carry out anything He desires. So, God can give you a promotion, or a house, or healing, or prevent something as common as a flat tire, just as easily as I can give Dexter a treat. But we have all experienced times when we don’t always get what we want, or even what we feel that we need. And sometimes, just like Joseph, Jochebed, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, what we do get feels like punishment, or even brutal agony. Could those be times when God is protecting us from something more harmful, preparing us for something important, or bringing us further along in our sanctification? No matter the reason, be sure it is ultimately for God’s glory, for as Paul tells us in Romans 12:36, “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.”

Viewpoints

From Dexter’s viewpoint, I am either mad at him or don’t love him anymore. There is no logical reason in Dexter’s mind for me to be treating him so unfairly. He wants something, and it’s within my power to give it to him, but I don’t, and that just doesn’t make sense to him. But, from my viewpoint, I am protecting him. Withholding treats and making him eat bland food on a strict schedule is not only what is best for him, it is also protecting him from further harm. Dexter is sad and confused because he doesn’t understand that he is actually being loved and cared for. And, because Dexter is a dog, I have no way to explain the situation to him so that he can understand why he is experiencing this pain.

Fortunately, we, as humans, have something that Dexter doesn’t. God created us with the capacity to reason and to understand on a much higher level than an animal. Not as high as God’s understanding, but high, nonetheless (Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT). And knowing why we are suffering makes it easier to endure. But, very often, we never learn the purpose behind our misery, and even if we eventually do see a reason for it, most likely it is in hindsight, long after that suffering is past us. So, what do we do when we are right in the middle of calamity, especially when it seems like it is never going to end? As Christians, we have one more advantage. We can turn to God and His Word for comfort and wisdom. And God has spoken on this very subject more than once.

You can look these passages up in your Bible or, if you click on the links, you can read them on your device at www.BibleGateway.com:

2 Corinthians 1:3-11 – God comforts us in our troubles so we can comfort others.

John 16:31-33 –Take heart, Jesus has overcome the world.

Job 36:15 – God gets our attention through suffering. (I can personally attest to this!!!)

Psalm 119:71 – Suffering teaches us to pay attention to God’s decrees.

Psalm 37 –Trust in the Lord; wait patiently. The Lord rescues the godly; He is their fortress.

Isaiah 26:4-15 – Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.

1 Peter – Suffering is part of God’s grace for you. (The entire book of 1 Peter was written as encouragement for suffering Christians.)

Trust God Anyway

Pain and suffering are a given in our fallen world, and it can come from a stranger, a friend, family, ourselves, or just, seemingly, out of the blue. No matter how it arrives, however, God has permitted it and there is a good purpose for it, even if He doesn’t reveal that purpose to us in the moment, or ever. But, regardless of the suffering, or the absence of a rational reason for it, as Christians, we know these things: God loves us, He is working out His plan, which includes us, and He is absolutely trustworthy. We don’t have to see from His point of view, we just need to remember that His vantage point is much greater than ours.

No one would deny that suffering is hard, or that irrational suffering is excruciating. And God understands perfectly because, remember, He chose, in the person of Jesus Christ, to suffer His own agonizing death just for us–a bunch of unworthy sinners. And He is not going to give up on us now.

So, even when it’s hard, even when you don’t understand, trust God anyway.