“The angel of the Lord asked him, ‘Why . . . ?” Numbers 22:32

 

While the temperature was well below freezing, the enthusiastic welcome extended to me by church leaders from throughout Finland still warms my heart. The doors were opened for me to give three sessions at their National Congress on Evangelism, hold numerous media interviews, attend a luncheon with members of Parliament, and lead an evangelistic rally in downtown Helsinki.

On each occasion, I was able to “just give them Jesus,” for which I praise Him!

Like the angel of old enquiring of Balaam as recorded in Numbers, this AnGeL has asked, “Why?”

Why would God allow 110 fathers of unborn children to perish in the collapse of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001?

Why would God withhold children from godly parents and give them to a mother who would bash their heads in with a rock?

Why would God allow thousands of people to lose their pensions because of greedy corporate executives who are padding theirs?
Why would God allow men in His name to abuse innocent children . . . and continue in ministry?

Why would God allow politicians, athletes, entertainers, and others to profit from their sin? And increase their profits as they flaunt their immorality and wickedness?
Why would God allow the kidnapping of innocent babies and children for the perverted pleasure of some pedophile?

Why do the young die?

    Why do the godly perish?

        Why do the wicked prosper?

            What, or who, has . . .

What, or who, has . . .

    turned on the tap of your tears,

        and tossed you in your bed at night,

            and preoccupied your waking thoughts,

        and blackened your hopes for the future,

    and broken your heart,

and wrenched an agonized “Why?” from your trembling lips?


One of the areas in my life that has extracted a “why?” from my heart has been the increasing physical frailty of my parents. My mother’s pale, gaunt

face that was transformed into wreaths of joy when I walked through the door of her hospital room months ago is indelibly recorded in my mind’s eye. Although her eyes had seemed sunken, they sparkled with the zest for life that is her own special trademark. With IVs dangling from her arms, she had lifted her trembling hands to welcome me. I embraced her frail body, feeling the heat of her temperature and the protrusion of her bones through the thin hospital gown. She was unable to speak clearly, so I just patted her and sat down nearby. Within moments, she had drifted off to sleep. And I was left to wonder “Why?” Why is my mother’s life ending in suffering, and at times, confusion? Why, after a life lived selflessly for others, must her old age be, in some ways, a curse?

Yet I was reminded that questions are not restricted to any particular age group when my son recently went through a series of tests to determine his physical condition five years after cancer surgery. The “Whys” buzzed through my head like irritating mental insects, “Why? Why is my handsome, six-foot-nine inch, thirty-two year old son still stalked by this horrific disease?

 

 

 

One of the premier Bible conferences in the world is held every year on the anniversary of Dr. D.L. Moody’s birthday at Moody Church in Chicago. I was honored to be invited back to speak on a cold, snowy evening to a packed audience on the mystery of unanswered prayer.

While wrestling with the illnesses of my mother and son, a beloved young friend was entering into the living death that is divorce. Why? Why doesn’t God melt the heart of the offending spouse and bring that person to genuine repentance so that the marriage can be saved?
And once again, the angel of death has struck, this time taking the life of the beloved professor and seminary president who had been a mentor to me, and who had, among many other things, reviewed each of my manuscripts to verify their theological accuracy. Why?

Broken hearts asking the question “Why?” are as old as the human race, beginning with our first parents. What would it have been like to wake up the morning after having been banished from the Garden of Eden because of a very wrong choice? I would imagine Adam and Eve had been lying on the cold, hard ground, covered in smelly animal skins. After a fitful night’s sleep, did they have a moment in between unconsciousness and full alertness when they thought everything they had been through the day before was just a horrible nightmare? Only to come fully awake and face to face with the cold hard consequences of their choice to disobey God? There would have been no comfort in each other on that first night after the way Eve had involved Adam in her sin, and Adam had blamed Eve when convicted of it. They may not even have been speaking to each other!

 

 

 

Six to nine months before Just Give Me Jesus, we hold a Kickoff Celebration in the host city that includes two main events--one for pastors and the other for women of influence. Following the pastors’ event in San Juan and our attempt to not only inform them of our revival effort but to ask for their blessing, a group surrounded me with prayer, support, and encouragement.

 

In utter loneliness, separated and alienated from God, their minds must have initially been preoccupied with reliving those awful moments that had led to their disobedience. “Why did I talk to the snake?” “Why didn’t I pray first?” “Why didn’t God intervene to protect us?”

The most tragic day in all of human history could not be relived. And it was not over. In the years to come, after the joy of giving birth to three sons, Adam and Eve’s hearts were broken once again as they buried their second son who was murdered by their firstborn. Why?

God answered that unspoken question with a promise that transcended the generations for every age to come when He reassured Adam and Eve that one day He would send a Savior Who would destroy the power of sin, death, and the devil--the ultimate sources of all human suffering. To our heart-wrenched “Why?”, God’s ultimate answer is, “Jesus.” Trust Him. Trust Him when there are no answers to your questions . . .

Trust Him when you don’t understand.

    Trust Him when your heart is broken.

        Trust His purpose.

            Trust His heart

                Trust His goodness.

            Trust Him beyond the grave.

        Trust Him to know best.

    Trust His plan to be bigger than yours.

Trust Him to keep His word.

Trust Him to be on time.

    Trust Him to be compassionate..

        Trust Him to set you free.

            Trust Him--and Him alone!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son . . .”1 And for this very reason, when we are tempted to question whether or not God cares, we are reminded that, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”2 He cares! God does care! The times when you and I can’t trace His hand of purpose, we must trust His heart of love! Trust HIM!

 

 

 

    It was a unique privilege to be the special guest of the American Tract Society for their 125th Anniversary of distributing Bibles to the 80% of all cadets who request them at West Point. At the Sunday morning service in the magnificent Chapel where the Bibles were presented, I delivered the message, challenging those present to be like Noah and walk with God on a daily basis.