“Why is this happening to me?”
I don’t know a single person who has endured loss or suffering without asking that question. My mentor asked this question when diagnosed with terminal cancer. My friend asked a similar question when he wanted to do work to save his marriage, but his spouse did not. I recently asked this question when wave after wave of unexpected bills and expenses kept showing up in our home.
The “why” question is normal and natural to ask. We try to make sense of what is happening and the reason behind it. Since we are not God, we reach for understanding and grasp for control when we are faced with our powerlessness and limits.
The truth is, knowing “why” won’t undo what happened. If we knew why someone made a choice, why some event transpired, or why God allowed suffering to come our way, we would have more knowledge, but we wouldn’t be able to go back in time and undo it.
Jud Wilhite learned this same lesson when he was pastoring a large church in Las Vegas in the aftermath of the Great Recession. With thousands of people unemployed, facing foreclosure on their homes, or struggling to keep their business afloat, Wilhite heard the “why” question everywhere he turned.
In his book, Torn, Wilhite shares that he began to counsel people differently after his own season of asking “why” amidst a personal crisis. Wilhite began to experience transformation and hope in his own life when he stopped asking “why” and he started asking “who” instead. Asking “why is this happening to me?” left him feeling stuck, while asking “who is God in this crisis?” led Him to experience God’s provision and presence.
In our most difficult moments, God’s presence can bring peace into our storms and His provision can bring hope for our future.
I recently heard a song for the first time which echoes the same focus of “who.” Pat Barrett's title track, “Shelter,” points listeners to consider the presence and provision of God in the middle of life’s storms.
RELATED CONTENT: Pat Barrett Seeks Refuge in the Most High on New Single ‘Shelter’
“I may never know every reason
Why things are the way they are
Oh, I don't need all the answers, I just need You”
Barrett has discovered that the best place to be is not understanding, but the presence of God. He echoes the words of the psalmists who wrote about the shelter God provided.
In Psalm 91, we read, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.” In Psalm 46, we read, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”
Life experience has taught Pat Barrett that God is the shelter to which he can run. “The more life you live, the more hurt that stacks up and the more things don’t go your way. You have to put all of that somewhere, and I want God to be the One I turn to. In all of that, He becomes a shelter.”
So, how do we live with God as our shelter?
First, meditate on God’s character when we’re tempted to get stuck asking “why.” One of my friends reads five psalms each day, finishing the book each month. He meditates on who God is in the middle of a world he cannot understand.
Second, unload the hurts to God rather than trying to hold onto them. 73 of the 150 Psalms are laments, where the people of God pour out their pain to God. Instead of stewing and keeping those thoughts in your head, open a journal and write them down. Take a drive and speak them aloud to God. Ask a friend to pray with you and tell God how you’re feeling, ugly tears and all.
Barrett sings beautifully about this in “Shelter” when he declares,
“The weight of the world's falling off of my shoulders
I'm letting go 'cause I know that You hold it
You care for me more than I even know, and
I just need You.”
Third, choose to make God your shelter. Rather than turning to a substance or our phones, turn to God. Whether that shelter experience looks like reading Scripture, praying with another follower of Jesus, listening to a song like “Shelter” or even fasting, we find rest for our souls when we make God our shelter in a storm.
I don’t know what the future holds, but I believe there are storms ahead. Preparing to make God our shelter seems like a wise step of preparation. Thanks Pat for a great song which reminds us who our God is in the hardest moments in life!
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer with the best last name in the world. Scott’s writing helps you laugh, challenges you to think, and invites you to grow. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona, and watches lots of football with his wife and three kids. You can learn more about Scott’s new free resource, The Gratitude Muscle Challenge, at scottsavagelive.com.
