Good morning and a most blessed Thursday to you.

Yesterday in chapel with the preschoolers, we talked about how in the beginning—before there was even time—there was God. There was darkness, and there was nothing. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. We talked about how He put the sun in the sky for the day and the moon and the stars in the sky for the night.

He created day and night, and it was good. We also talked about how when we come to chapel, we are in God’s house. We come to listen to the One who has all power—even the power to create day and night itself. We reflected on God’s incredible power and all-knowing wisdom. Unlike us—who may try to create with words but cannot bring anything into being—God spoke, and everything that ever was and ever will be came into existence. And what amazes us is that this same God, so powerful and wise, loves us deeply.

He loves us so much that He created us with eyes to see Him, ears to hear Him, minds and hearts to know Him, and mouths to speak to Him through prayer. I thought of Job and how, in all his struggles, he longed to understand the “why” behind his suffering. When the Lord answered Job, He showed him that he did not even have the wisdom to ask the question “why,” let alone understand God’s ways or the answer.

In Job 42, Job says:
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”

Job was quickly humbled, realizing he had sought answers that belonged only to God.

And we too, in our own lives, often wake up and ask:
Why this diagnosis? Why this job loss? Why this broken relationship? Why this pain?

Sometimes, in His mercy, the Lord allows us to see answers. But often, we don’t get to know the “why.” What we do know is that God loves us. He created us to hear His Word that says, “You are forgiven.” He gave us hearts and minds to know Him and His love, shown fully when He sent His only Son to die for us. He promises to come again and bring us to Himself. Because of this, we know with certainty that our sins are forgiven. He gave us mouths so we can pray, praise, and share His love with others.

There will always be things we cannot understand. We could drive ourselves to distraction asking “why, why, why?” But I encourage you to stop, take a breath, and hand that “why” over to the Lord. Like Job, we can confess: “I am seeking things too great for me, too wonderful for me to know.” And then, we trust. We trust God because He loves us. We know He loves us because Jesus died for us. We know He will keep His promises—promises of love, forgiveness, and eternal life with Him.

So when you wake up and ask, “Why?” look in the mirror, splash water on your face, and remind yourself: “The reason is not the most important thing. The important thing is this—I am a baptized child of God, and He loves me. This I know for certain.”

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Lord, we thank You so much for creating us and for creating this world in which we live. We ask that when the “whys” begin to tumble from our lips or rise in our minds, You would stop them and remind us who You are—our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.

Open our ears, our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to know You better. Draw us ever closer to You. Change us, transform us, mold us to be more like You until the day we are brought into Your beautiful, glorious presence.

We lift this prayer to You, trusting and thanking You for being our God who loves us so much. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Have an amazing rest of your week, and I look forward to worshiping with you on Sunday. God bless.

Pastor Malinak