by Dennis and Barbara Rainey

Romans 9:20
On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?

I once heard a pastor say that, on any given day, 90 percent of the families in his congregation are facing some challenge or crisis. As I have previously shared, such a crisis struck our own family when our 16-year-old son Samuel came down with muscular dystrophy.

Let me confess that I've come close to "talking back to God" over this and many other questions. After 26 years of trying to yield to Christ's rule, experiences of my own and others often leave me with many thorny questions that remain unanswered.

Why would God allow some children to be sexually molested?

Why do so many couples who want children find themselves infertile?

Why do some spouses who have every reason to remain faithful suddenly abandon their families?

I don't believe Scripture provides simple answers to these questions. But I do believe the passage above gives a strong overall answer that invites me to embrace the deepest hope and the strongest faith.

When the Bible asserts that God, the divine Potter, is in control, it raises for some the question of why He allows this or that to happen. But it also invites supreme confidence that, however tragic its effects, evil does not have the last word.

A loving God, who can assume sovereign control over the world, can also be trusted to overwhelm present evils.

In our own situation, a hint of how God's power can empower us to overcome tragedy came one evening when Samuel and I were driving home from the grocery store. We had been talking about his limitations due to MD. Samuel turned from gazing out the window, looked at me and said resolutely: "Well, Dad, I guess you don't need legs to serve God."

Prayer:

That God will give you the ability to trust Him in any situation.

Discuss: For what situations are you asking God, "Why?" Has He given you a reply?

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