“Working through what we don’t understand — especially when asking, How can I trust God when the person who hurt me got away with it? — will not be a tidy answer to all our questions. But we can manage the tension better if we are equipped with the truthy. . . . We must keep fighting to make sure our first words filled with anguish aren’t our last words filled with bitterness.”- Lysa TerKeurst
As Lysa TerKeurst moves on in Chapter 7 of I Want to Trust You, but I Don’t, she underscores this belief. That just because our doubts represent our current thought pattern, that doesn’t mean that is where our thoughts should stay. Hence, the best way to fight through our questions about God’s justice involves this action. Creating space in our thoughts for more of God’s perspective.
Therefore, Lysa finds it necessary to do something else besides obsessing over her questions and doubts. So, when your mind bogs down in a loop of asking questions you already know the answer to, Lysa presents this option. Reach out to a friend who knows how to process struggles while factoring in biblical wisdom.
Because, as Charles Spurgeon once explained in a sermon:
“Every affliction is timed and measured, and every comfort is sent with a loving thoughtfulness which makes is precious in a sevenfold degree. O believer, the great thoughtfulness of the divine mind is exercised toward you, the chosen of the Lord. Never has anything happened to you as a result of a remorseless fate; but all your circumstances have been ordained in wisdom by a living, thoughtful, loving Lord.”
Above all, Lysa stresses, the absence of justice doesn’t provide evidence of the absence of God. So, we need a friend who acknowledges our struggle without jumping into our spiraling thoughts within. Thus, our friend’s presence helps us to feel God’s presence.
Finally, when you just can’t talk about your pain and the words can’t find their way out of you, Lysa suggests this crucial step. Take your shoes off and go outside. Because then you stand on solid ground. You see that the sky isn’t falling.
Today’s question: What helps us cope when we fail to find a tidy answer to our questions? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Tangible evidence of God working?”