When We Don’t Understand Why – Dr. Charles Stanley

Have you found yourself lately asking God, “Why?” Dr. Stanley says that might be the wrong question. This message preached several years ago brings truth from First Peter 5 to reminds believers in Jesus that God always has something to teach us in even the most confusing situations. Scripture gives sure footing in times “When We Don’t Understand Why.”

[music]

Dr. Charles Stanley: When I
find myself going through some

difficult situation in life, I
always think about this old

gospel song.

It goes, “Trials dark on every
hand and I cannot understand all

the ways that God would lead me
through His blessed Promise

Land.

But He’ll guide me with His eye,
and I’ll follow till I die, and

I’ll understand it better by and
by.

By and by when the morning
comes, when the saints of God

are all gathered Home, we’ll
tell the story of how we’ve

overcome, and we’ll understand
it better by and by.”

Well, when I think about that
and I think about the trials and

difficulties we face in life, we
all have different kinds of

attitudes about it when that
happens to us.

People sometimes become very,
very angry with God.

And sometimes people begin to
rejoice because they know that

God is doing something very
special in their life.

Well, what I want to talk about
in this message is this.

What about when we don’t
understand why?

What about when we don’t
understand why?

And God’s not going to always
tell us why.

And it’s very evident, for
example, that we don’t figure it

all out.

And people respond in different
ways.

And oftentimes we want to know
why.

Now, God knows why, but
sometimes He’s not going to tell

us why, because we wouldn’t even
understand that; because you

see, His perspective is total.

He understands past, present and
future, and exactly why things

are happening.

We have a very limited view.

And so sometimes our attitude
toward God is not right,

attitude toward our situation’s
not right.

God understands every single
facet of what is happening in

our life.

And while it’s a mystery to us,
there is no mystery to God.

He knows exactly why He allows
certain things to happen.

He knows we will never be able
to understand it.

That doesn’t keep Him from
allowing them to happen.

God is a God of love,
righteousness, mercy and

goodness and kindness.

So whatever He allows in our
life, we have to learn to

respond the right way.

And sometimes that’s not easy
and sometimes it is easy.

But a couple of verses I want to
give you, one in Isaiah chapter

fifty-five.

And you know this, no doubt,
and then a passage in

Lamentations, but the one in
fifty-five, listen to what he

says in verse eight.

He says, “My thoughts are not
your thoughts.”

Well, what does that mean?

He says now, “nor are your ways
My ways.

For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are My ways

higher than your ways and My
thoughts than your thoughts.”

So what that assures me is this.

That some things I will never
understand.

Because He says His ways are
higher than our ways.

His thoughts are higher than our
thoughts, which means they’re

beyond our comprehension; and
some things we’ll never be able

to figure out in this life.

And I think about my mom, for
example, when she was about my

age, I think–I remember her
telling me this.

She’d say about my father, who
died when I was nine months of

age, so here’s what she would
say.

She said, “You know, I just
never can figure out why God

took Charlie.”

I was only nine months of age.

All those years had gone by, she
never figured it out.

And even when I tried to very
rationally and lovingly say,

“Well, Mom–” well, it didn’t
make any difference what I said.

And I began to realize that what
God said, “My ways are higher

than your ways and My thoughts
higher than your thoughts.”

You’re not going to understand
it and nobody else can explain

it.

So I finally just gave up and
said, “Okay, Lord, I’ll just let

You handle that.”

But there’s another verse in
Lamentations, chapter three,

listen.

“The Lord’s
loving kindnesses indeed never

cease,” look at that.

His, “loving kindnesses never
cease, which means when I’m

going through difficulty,
hardship or pain, they’re still

there.

They never cease.

And He says, “for His
compassions never fail.

For they are new every morning;”
Look at that, “They’re new

every morning; great is Your
faithfulness.”

That is, God’s goodness and love
and mercy doesn’t wear out at

the end of the first day.

That is, it’s brand new every
morning.

So think about it.

When you wake up every morning,
the Scripture says that God’s

loving kindness is with you all
the day.

It never ceases, “for His
compassions never fail.”

So, whether you and I understand
or not is not the issue.

The issue is am I willing to see
things God’s way, or am I just

going to insist on having my way
about it.

So I want you to turn, if you
will, to First Peter, and Peter

is writing to Christians who are
undergoing difficulty and

hardship and pain.

And he comes to this
sixth verse of the fifth

chapter, “Therefore humble
yourselves under the mighty hand

of God, that He may exalt you at
the proper time, casting all

your anxiety on Him, because He
cares for you.

Be of sober spirit, be on the
alert.

Your adversary, the devil,
prowls around like a roaring

lion, seeking whom he may
devour.”

But listen to what he says.

He says, “But resist him, firm
in your faith, knowing that the

same experiences of suffering
are being accomplished by your

brethren who are in the world.

And then watch this tenth verse.

And I’ll tell you why I want you
to see this in a moment, “After

you have suffered for a little
while,” notice he says, “a

little while.”

Well, somebody says, “Yeah, but
this has been going on for eight

years, ten years or twenty years
in my life.”

He says, “a little while.”

Time is not the same with
Almighty God.

“After you have suffered for a
little while, the God of all

grace, who called you to His
eternal glory in Christ, will

Himself perfect, confirm,
strengthen and establish you.”

So, when we think about how God
works and how He operates and so

forth, I think about oftentimes
our first question is, God, why

would You let this happen?

That’s not the most important
question.

And so, what I want us to look
at this morning is this simple

question.

When we don’t understand why,
then what?

A lot of times we won’t
understand why, probably most of

the times.

If somebody asks me, “Well, why
do you think that happened to

you?”

I’ll tell you about that in a
moment.

But most of the time, we can’t
figure that out.

And God doesn’t require that we
figure out why.

But He does want us to
understand when it happens and

we don’t understand why, that we
respond in the right way.

Because the way I respond will
make what I suffer valuable or

invaluable.

If I don’t respond correctly,
then I’m going to lose an

awesome opportunity of blessing.

If I respond in the right
fashion, I can ask Him what He’s

up to; but my faith, my trust,
my surrender, my yieldedness

must absolutely overpower all
these questions I may have.

And think about this.

God is under no obligation to
tell us why.

He doesn’t promise to tell us
why.

Because He says, “My thoughts
are above your thoughts.”

So you can just mark it down.

There are some things He’s not
going to tell us why about.

Many things He will, but some
things He won’t.

It’s not His responsibility to
tell me why He allows things to

happen in our life.

But it is my response that will
give me the privilege of either

growing through the situation.

Or, if you’ll think about it,
why waste your pain?

Why waste your sorrows?

Why waste your hurt?

If I don’t grow through my hurt
and my pain, my sorrow and my

disappointment, if I don’t grow
through it, it’s sort of wasted.

And think about this.

Why waste the time of hurting
and pain and suffering and

whether it’s financial or
physical or emotional, why waste

all that time and not get
anything from it, when you can

profit from every single
heartache, burden and trial.

Now, some time ago, I was
walking through my house just

like I would normally do, and I
tripped and fell.

I don’t know why I tripped one
foot against the other.

And so here I’m lying in the
floor.

And what happens is, when you
stumble like that, there is a

brief absolute absence of
consciousness.

Fast, but all of a sudden you
know something’s happened and

you’re conscious of what has
happened.

And I’m lying there and I can
tell you exactly what I thought.

It’s funny today, but it wasn’t
funny then.

And that is, I asked, “God, what
are You up to at this point?”

That was my first response,
“What are You up to?”

Well, He was up to me soon
getting in an ambulance.

And I can tell you how many
times I’ve been blessed during

this painful time.

The two ladies who came to get
me in the ambulance, “Dr.

Stanley, what are you doing in
here?”

I don’t know!

And they were so sweet and kind
and talked to me all the way to

the hospital.

And I will say this.

Everywhere I went, with no
exception, somebody had been

blessed through In Touch; and
now they had an opportunity from

their perspective of blessing
me, and they certainly did.

And so, I broke a couple of
places in my pelvis and did

something to my shoulder and
also to my knee and all of that,

but I did not have to have an
operation.

God let me fall, but He could
have let me hit my head and so

forth, and so I had some things
to be thankful for, though I was

hurting and I thank You, God.

But my first question was, God,
what are You up to?

Because here’s my personal
conviction.

Lot of folks would not agree.

My personal conviction is if
you’re walking in the Spirit of

God, there are no accidents.

God is in control of your life.

He knows what He’s up to.

He doesn’t promise to give you
any answers.

But He promises to be with you.

I could have fallen about five
inches further and I would have

hit my head on the chair, which
was, like, a church pew, that I

used to sit in downtown in the
old church.

I missed that about five or six
inches.

Arm went out, protected my head,
so I had some things to be

grateful for.

But the first response was,
“God, what are You up to?”

And I think that ought to be the
response of everybody when

something happens, “What are You
up to?”

Not, what have I done?
What’s this?

But, “God, what are You up to?”

And so, then I, after I sort of
got up, I started praising Him

and thanking Him and thanking
Him for what I saw could have

happened.

And I knew that God had a
purpose.

Because God, I don’t think God
allows us to go through

difficulty and hardship, in
other words, He’s not up there

saying, “You get this; you get
that.”

In other words, He’s in the
process of doing something good

in our life.

And, you know, one of the good
things in my behalf is this.

I’ve studied the Word of God
long enough to know what to

expect in certain situations and
circumstances; and that is, I

knew that God had something in
mind, though I didn’t like what

was happening; though I knew I
was going to miss a few very

pleasant things.

And I didn’t know I was going to
miss it all, but I knew that God

had stopped me for a reason.

Now, remember this.

When God stops you, He stops us
for some specific reason.

And so, I began to ask Him,
“Lord, what are You saying to

me?”

For I knew that He stopped me,
because I had all these plans,

and they’re all good plans.

He stopped me dead in my tracks.

I won’t tell you everything He
told me.

The most important thing He said
to me was five weeks later.

But pretty soon He stopped me,
He said, “You need to slow down.

You need to slow down.”

Well, I didn’t think I was
moving very fast that morning,

but that wasn’t the issue.

The issue, I’ve been moving fast
all of my life, and I did

understand that.

But it took five weeks later
before He said, “This is the

reason I stopped you.”

None of my time was wasted,
because I had an opportunity to

witness to many people who,
because I had their–had round

the clock help.

And I’d talk to them half the
night about the Lord if I had an

opportunity.

And even amidst the pain, there
were many good things that God

had going on.

And so I can say, “Thank You,
Lord.

Thank You, thank You, thank
You.”

The moment I fell, I knew God
was up to something.

Now, lot of people won’t
agree with this.

Somebody says, “You mean to tell
me there are no accidents?”

If you’re a child of God,
walking in His will and His way,

no; because if the Bible says
anything, it says I’m walking in

His love, in His watch care,
under his divine guidance, under

His protection, under His
provision.

If that be true, how can it be
an accident?

From a human point of view,
anybody could say, “Yes,

you just tripped and fell.”

Well, that’s true, from a human
point of view, but thank God I

didn’t let it stop there, but
ask him, “Lord, what are you up

to?”

You know what?

God was still being good, no
matter what.

And the big question is as we
began, not, “God, why did You

let this happen?”

But how am I to respond to all
this?

So, I’m going to give you two or
three verses of Scripture in a

moment and I want you to be sure
to jot them down.

Immediately remember when
something happens, the first

thought ought to be that you’re
a child of God and He’s watching

over you.

It doesn’t make any difference
what happens.

That, listen, that doesn’t come
and go.

You may feel God’s presence or
you may not feel God’s presence;

but if you’re a child of God, He
knows what’s happening and He

knows exactly where you are in
His plan and purpose for your

life.

The second thing, how we should
respond, is this, immediately,

we should recall what God says.

“I am with you always.”

So I know He’s with me.

I know He’s present.

I know He’s there.

I’m in His presence.

You’re in His presence.

No matter what’s happening,
you’re in the presence of God.

So He knows what’s happening.

And we need to recall that and
remember that.

In other words, our first
thoughts ought not to be this

and that and some other things,
but it ought to be all about

God.

“Thank You, Father, I’m in Your
presence.

Thank You, You know what You’re
doing and You know why You’re

letting this happen.”

And remember, He said, “I’ll
never leave you nor forsake

you.”

Thank You, Father.

You said You’d never leave me
nor forsake me, so what I’m

going through, I know I’m going
through this in Your presence,

in Your sight, in Your
permissive will.

And you should never forget
that.

Whatever’s happening is in His
sight, in His presence and in

His permissive will.

He is allowing it to happen no
matter what.

And then of course, acknowledge
the fact that whatever the

reason is, He’s doing it with
some divine purpose.

That is, He has a purpose.

This isn’t some accident.

He has a purpose.

I know He’s with me.

I know He knows my heart.

He said He’d never leave me nor
forsake me, so therefore, God,

there must be a purpose for
this.

And I’m going to trust You
whatever it is.

And then, thank Him.

You say, “Can you really and
truly thank Him for these

things?”

Yes, you can.

Because what happens is He’ll
show you something you can be

thankful for.

I can be thankful I didn’t fall
down the steps.

I can be thankful that I didn’t
trip and fall and hurt somebody

else.

I can be thankful that
I wasn’t unconscious.

I could have been, I could have
fallen unconscious, and lying

there till somebody found me.

Watch this.

First Thessalonians chapter
five, verse eighteen.

“Giving,” listen, he says,
“Giving thanks in all things,

for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Because there will be something,
and I just mentioned two or

three things that I could be
thankful for.

Whatever’s going on in your
life, you can be thankful.

And so, this is why I say to you
week after week, You should

start the day off with the Word
of God.

It’s like ammunition, because
Satan may shoot at you in some

way or the other.

Or you’ll come to some trial or
some heartache.

But if the Word of God is in
your mind, on your lips, in your

heart, in your spirit,
immediately God is going to

bring it to your mind.

“Give,” He says, “Giving thanks
always for everything in Christ

Jesus.”

A second verse that I thought
about came to my mind, I

thought, “Well, Lord,” and I’m
always thinking, “here’s what

I’ll preach to others.”

What does He say in Romans eight
twenty-eight?

“God causes all things to work
together for good to those who

are called according to His
purpose.”

So, listen, when you’ve got the
Word of God in your heart,

here’s what’s going to happen.

The Holy Spirit is going to
bring to your mind what you need

to be reminded of at that
moment.

And so those verses came to my
mind.

I’m to give thanks in
everything.

“God, You know what I’m feeling.

I’m giving, I’m going to thank
You anyway.

You said You always have a
purpose.

You’re going to work it for my
good.

I don’t know what that is.

I’m going to thank You, God, no
matter what.”

And then I come back to our
original Scripture here in verse

ten of First Peter chapter five,
“After you have suffered for a

little while.”

You say, “Well, how long is a
little while?”

I don’t know the answer to that,
“After you’ve suffered for a

little while, the God of all
grace,” listen, “the God of all

grace, who called you to His
eternal glory in Christ,” we’re

talking about Christians now.

Watch this, “will Himself,” not
somebody else, “will Himself,”

do four things in your life,
“perfect you, confirm you,

strengthen you, and establish
you.”

And so, what’s He really saying
about all this?

He’s really saying this.

He says, “Something good is
going to happen.”

God’s going to work something
good in your life.

And what he does, he uses four
different words to say, This is

what God is going to do.

He’s going to perfect, He’s
going to complete something He

had in mind for you.

He’s going to establish you.

He’s going to strengthen you.

That is, watch this.

Any trial that comes in our
life, you and I should not end

up like it started, strengthen,
establish you, perfect you,

complete you.

These are the things that God is
doing in your life.

So when I think about that, then
I think about, yes, I can thank

Him for it.

Because what He’s doing is
revealing His will and purpose

and plan.

And somebody asked me, several
people have asked me, “You

wouldn’t do that again, would
you?”

If I could get the same results,
yes!

If I could get the same results,
yes!

Do I like it?

No.

And I think my worst night was
in a hospital looking at a wall

which was very close; and it was
about two o’clock in the

morning; and the devil was
there, naturally, saying, Look

at you now.

Look at you now.

You may never walk again.

Who cares now?

And then I realize, Satan,
forget it, because that’s not

who I’m following.

And God just began to give me
these verses of Scripture,

verses that are so simple,
giving thanks in everything.

Listen, after about four or five
verses, you know what?

The wall wasn’t all that close
and the room wasn’t all that

dark because God was there.

That’s the reason.

So, all of this depends upon
your relationship to God.

If you’ve never trusted Him as
your Savior, think about this.

You’ve got to go through trials
and heartaches and burdens by

yourself.

Your friends can help you to
some degree, but not fully.

They can’t do anything these
three or four verses can do for

you.

“Giving thanks always for all
things.”

“God causes all things to work
together for good.”

I knew He’d cause something good
to come out of this.

Did that stop the pain?

No, but it made me assured of
this.

There’s a limitation to it.

And God sets a limitation to
every trial, every heartache,

every burden.

We just have to respond the
right way.

And so I would say to you this
morning, if you’ve never trusted

Jesus as your Savior, you’re
going to go through some

difficulty, hardship, and pain.

And that’s the world you and I
live in.

Think about it, what kind of
world we live in.

And not only that, you say,
Well, I don’t think

that’ll necessarily happen to
me.

If you’ve not saved, let’s hope
it does so it’ll drive you to

Jesus.

Because whatever it takes to get
you to God is good, no matter

what that might be.

Or if you are a believer this
morning and you’ve been going

through difficulty and hardship
and pain and arguing with God

about it and giving Him a lot of
questions, maybe you ought to

just take these notes and go
over them yourself and work on

two or three of these verses.

Now watch this, the Word of God
the Word of God is like a shield

to us, that no matter how fiery,
fiery and hot the trial may be,

the Word of God is like
a shield.

“I will never leave you nor
forsake you.”

“I’m going to cause this to turn
out for something good.

I’m building strength in your
life.

I’m building confidence in your
life.

And I am build–I’m establishing
you in your faith.”

God always has something good if
we trust Him.

Well, if you have never trusted
Jesus Christ as your Savior,

none of this will work.

You can’t claim God’s presence,
you can’t claim His power, you

can’t claim any of that.

So it’s important first of all,
you know that one of these days,

you’re going to die and you’re
going to meet Almighty God.

You need to get ready.

He says it’s appointed unto man
once to die and after this, the

judgment.

That’s the Word of
the living God.

You need to get ready.

And you get ready by trusting
Jesus Christ as your personal

Savior, trusting what He did at
the Cross, atone for your sin,

forgave you of your sins, wrote
your name in the Lamb’s Book of

Life, and made you ready.

If He called your name today,
would you be ready to meet the

God who created you and to whom
you’re going to give an account

for your life?

You can, by asking Jesus Christ
to forgive you of your sins,

based on His death at the Cross,
surrendering your life to Him,

and let Him begin to be your
guide, your help, your Lord,

your master all the days of your
life.

And that’s my prayer for you.

Father, we thank You and praise
You that You have given us Your

Word to keep close to our heart,
in our mind, and to apply in

every single circumstance of
life so that we’re not asking

just why, but going beyond that
and thanking You, and praising

You, that You know better than
we know and that what You allow

in our life, You intend to turn
for good every single time.

Give us listening hearts,
submissive wills, yielded

spirits so that all that You
want to accomplish, we will

allow it to happen.

For we ask this in Jesus’s name
and for His sake.

Amen.

[music]