Why?

We've asked it often, and yet we ask it again. It has always been the hardest question to answer, and yet often times the most pressing.

Why?

It started from as soon as we could talk. We asked our parents, the grown ups, and we expected an answer.

Why is the sky blue? Why does daddy have to go to work? Why do I have to eat veggie?

And as we got into our teen years, the questions changed but the WHY remained. The questions were not just addressed to parents anymore, but to our friends, to ourselves. And we didn't always get an answer.

Why can't I have that gadget which everyone else has? Why do I have to do homework when I'll much rather play? Why must I wear hand-me-downs? Why is She so much prettier than me?

And now, we are adults and at a different stage in life, but we still have questions..burning questions. Only they are most times questions of the soul which we can no longer voice out freely, or rarely do except to God. And sometimes they are questions so deep and intense that we do not even know how to put them into words..

Why are you allowing this to happen, God? Why must I say goodbye to that loved one? Why did I lose that order? Why her and not me? Why now and not then? Why? Why??

When things don't go according to plan, OUR plan...

When we can't see a light at the end of the tunnel...

When we don't know how we got here and don't know where to go from here..

When we don't understand..

Why?

The heart cries, "Yes, I know all thing work together for good, I know that there is a time and season for everything, I know that there is a sovereign God in control, but... WHY??!"

And the hard cold truth is... Most times, there are no answers. No answers to the questions which burn in our hearts, which tear us apart. Perhaps Later, perhaps Never, but certainly not Now.

It is so hard to have unanswered questions. They leave aching voids, unshed tears, and spinning heads in their wake.

And what remedy do we have to offer? Quiet moments by the beach, listening to the melody of the waves? Wordless music to express the soul's unspoken feelings? Or the turning up of the volume so that it drowns the voices in your head? Having a heart-to-heart talk with someone close who cares?

Or perhaps as we reach a breaking point, we are reminded, and a quiet confidence steals across our hearts in knowing that "He doeth all things well." It doesn't answer all the questions, it doesn't take away the desire to KNOW... but the gentle peace that is its companion calms the frustrated and care-filled mind, and coaxes us to be patient, to be trusting, to cast all our cares on Him.

Why?

"..because He cares for you." (I Pet. 5:7).

**She feels the pressure every time she looks at the White Board**