Why?
Sermon by Fr Daoud Lamei and can be found on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/olivia-boles-1/leh-father-dawod-lam3y
Why? There is a common question: why does this happen to me?
A very hard question indeed. Why do those who are most precious to God get hurt to such a great extent? Why can it not be easier than this? And if it is not as a result of their sins, then why?
Of course, we have the wisdom of the church fathers with us, however, their answers will always remain incomplete. These questions will not be answered until we enter heaven. When we hear the saying “He will wipe every tear from our eyes”, what does this mean?
Every tribulation and struggle that you went through in your life will be wiped away by the hand of God. He is the only one in heaven that can tell you why this happened, its benefit, and its value for us. Nothing happened without purpose.
There won’t be any sadness remaining, or tribulation persisting then. However, here on earth, there has to be sadness and tribulation, even to those most precious to God. God did not lift the pain of the earth but He came Himself and carried it on the cross for us.
So sometimes even when we don’t have an answer to these hard questions it is enough for us to sit and look at the crucified Christ and you will be strengthened. Even if our minds are not at ease, our hearts are comforted. The mind may not be convinced, no worries, but when you see the Lord Jesus, the holy and pure who truly bore the sins of the whole world and has taken up a burden far greater than any of us, we begin to say “according to your wisdom O’ God, surely You know what you are doing. Surely this tribulation is good for me. Surely You have chosen goodness for us.”
Jesus did not promise us earthly comfort, however, the true value of a person begins to show when they start to hurt. However, as long as you are still comfortable, you are not a true human, just like the eagle is not an eagle until he begins to fly.
We often do not experience tribulations apart from those of earthly ones, but there are tribulations above our abilities, and God knows better than anyone the extent of these abilities of ours. He knows what you can handle.
“Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole.”
Job 5:17
Lucky is the person whom God pays attention to discipline. Lucky is he who God works tirelessly to correct. When you find someone who is struggling with tribulations, then say within yourself, ‘how lucky!’ However, you may feel and say within yourself, ‘God please protect me from such tribulation and do not let me go through such a thing!’ As you wish, but to your loss! In Heaven, you will remember what you said and truly understand the meaning of how lucky they are.
Let us understand this through the metaphor of a surgeon. The wounds are not random. The wounds from God are meticulously in the hands of God, like from a perfect surgeon who understands. In His discretion, He opens such wounds of hurt, and in time he closes it. But only after fixing up what is inside. In doing so he saves your life. “He wounds, but His hands make whole.” This is the secret of life, without it, one would be damned.
Then a logical question comes, why then would He hurt? Why open up a wound? Why not just leave us be? Where is the necessity in Him hurting us?
Sometimes God is removing the tares (see Matthew 13 for the parable of the tares). What are these tares? These are negative feelings, a hardened heart, hatred, jealousy, greed, too much attachment to the world, and corrupted relationships. Many things within a person could lead them to hell. These are all tares. To remove these tares, surgery is needed. Sometimes God would wound so we can scream. Is screaming beneficial? At times screaming is exponentially more useful than a laugh.
The Bible says “woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep,” (Luke 6:25) and “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted,” (Matt 5:4). What does this mean for us?
That the scream of “Have mercy upon me God!” is far greater than the laugh of a man.
““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.”
Isaiah 55:8
God loves us and He disciplines His children, but we don’t have to understand everything. And the wise one is he who prays and asks, ‘guide me Lord and grant me understanding.’ What do we do then with God who wounds and makes whole?
The first thing we must do is bear the wound He gives us because we know very well that this is to your benefit. Exactly as you go to the doctor and you suffer a bit because you know it is to your benefit. Bear the wound because afterward, He will heal. After the tribulation, He will bless. If you have lived your life not knowing the meaning of bear, then you cannot be a soldier for God, you cannot be a man with God. Man up and bear the burden so you can feel the hand of God. I say this because it is the same hand that wounds that also heals us.
Don’t push the hand of God, But hold onto it! It is that very hand that will heal the wound that He made!
We have already agreed that He wounded you to heal you. This is a chance to truly feel the hand of God and cling to it. There is a common mistake that people make when they get upset due to tribulation, they distance themselves from God and so they decide they are not going to pray. Well, that’s up to you, but the wound will remain open. You won’t let God stitch the wound. It’s as if you walk out of a surgery mid-way, you ruin the work of the physician halfway. He was just about to stitch you up and clean you up, but you don’t let him. Please, don’t push the hand of God. One of the hardest things that can pass over one that is in tribulation, is despair. To think that it will never end, to lose hope that anything will change, ‘nothing will change’ they say.
The tribulation will pass, the sickness will heal, the problem will be solved. The feelings of despair are sometimes much harder than the tribulation itself. Never lose your hope because God will interfere.
“I waited patiently for the Lord, And He inclined to me, And heard my cry.”
Psalm 40:1
This, “He inclined to me”, often takes time but it happens, so wait. Do you want to get to a point where you’re made of steel? Where any tribulation, humiliation, poverty, sickness, or sorrow doesn’t affect you. Is that even possible? Yes! But you have to cling to Jesus Christ. When you truly stick to Jesus you tend to feel that everything that is happening to you is happening to Him. He has calculated the situation very well, He has chosen the Cross and the resurrection. Any tribulation, the end of it is Glory. Stick to Jesus, do this through the Bible, Prayer, communion, consistent repentance, and confession.
“But it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God.”
Psalm 73:28
“He wounds, but His hands make whole”, bear the wound, hold onto the hand that will heal, cling to the Lord, and wait for healing!
Glory be to God forever, Amen.