Why?

    A dear friend has buried 4 family members in the past 6 months.  Another friend just buried his twenty year old son, a handsome young college student who loved the Lord.   A precious young mother delivered a beautiful baby boy one day and buried him the next.  Why, God?  Why do these horrible things happen?   
   Like many Christians searching for answers, I turned to the book of Job shortly after Allison was diagnosed with leukemia.  I was determined to find some explanation, some great reason, some purpose, some meaning for all the tears, all the pain.  When God finally appeared and spoke to Job in chapter 38, I read each word carefully, desperate for answers.   God is right in front of Job, speaking to him; surely now he will confront Him with his questions. . .but Job's words are simply, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:5-6) 
   No explanation, but there was an answer:  "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)
And there were blessings for a man who dared to be angry with God for the hard times life had given him, and rebukes for the self-righteous friends who presumed it was their place to explain the mind and the actions of God.  Many years ago, I heard James Dobson tell a young girl with cystic fibrosis that he wished he could tell her why she was suffering.  I screamed at the radio, No!  This child's suffering must be too big for even you to understand, Dr. Dobson!  I don't want anyone less than the God of the universe to understand why my child suffered and died.  And, like Job, when I stand before Him, the question, "Why?", will be the farthest thing from my mind.