The Revealer

Two weeks ago, we looked at an all-important question, introducing the topic with a glimpse at how driven we humans are by questions. Of the the six well-known questions of “who, what, when, where, why, and how,” I’d venture a guess that the most frequently asked question—by children and adults alike—is “Why?” and more specifically, “Why did this happen?”

It’s a question that, again, I’d venture to guess almost every person has asked at one time or another. And most of the time, it’s in the context of wanting to know why something that we perceive as bad has transpired.

For Christians and non-Christians alike, this “why” is often directed at God. After all, who better to ask why something occurred than the One who is omniscient? But usually, we are not granted an answer in the way we would like.

I don’t know about you, but God generally doesn’t spell out to me His reasons for planning or allowing things to happen in my life. Sometimes, I can look back and surmise that a certain outcome or effect I have observed might have been part of God’s reasoning, but even then it is always cushioned with the word “perhaps.”

Is it wrong of us to ask why things happen? I don’t think so. But I do think that we can get ourselves into trouble when we think we deserve an answer.

News Flash: God does not owe us explanations for anything. We are not entitled to have our questions answered by the Creator of the universe.

That might rub us the wrong way, because we tend to think pretty highly of ourselves, but recognizing that truth makes the next news flash all the more amazing:

News Flash #2: God has already revealed answers to many of our questions, asked and unasked.

Have you ever noticed how many times in Scripture the words “so that” show up? It’s a lot. And every time you see those two little words, you’ll find an explanation of the reason something happened, the purpose for it, the “why.”

There are other instances in the Bible, too, where God does spell out to people what He’s doing. For instance, in 2 Samuel 7, God reveals to David through Nathan the prophet that his descendants would reign forever (i.e. that the Promised One would come through David’s line). And David, upon learning this, praises the Lord, saying, “For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant” (2 Samuel 7:21, NIV).

Did you catch that? Not only was God doing something, but He was making it known.

This verse got me thinking—look at what else God has made known to us! A year ago this week, I wrote a post exploring some of the biggest things He has revealed (His standards, our need for a Savior, and how we can be saved). These are all articulated in His Word, which as a whole is a marvelous communication of who God is, what He’s like, and what He desires, but He has filled His Word with countless other revelations, too!

And as if that weren’t enough, the Bible (a.k.a “special revelation”) is not the only thing God has revealed to us. He has also given us the ability to discover truths about the way His creation operates. He has designed us to be able to solve problems and has made many answers available for us to seek out. Just think of all the scientific laws of nature He has allowed us to uncover. Think of the inquiries into the past in the fields of archaeology and history He has permitted to be successful. Think of the discoveries in anatomy and medicine He has enabled.

And we were not owed any of it. What a gracious God He is!

So the next time we start to get a chip on our shoulder from feeling as if God isn’t giving us the answers we think we deserve, let’s stop a moment and remember who we really are and who He really is. Let’s decide to praise Him for being infinitely more wise than we will ever be. And instead of complaining about what He hasn’t revealed to us, why don’t we choose to marvel at what He has?