Why Me, Lord? (1 CD)

WHY ME, LORD? Many people never seriously question God’s providence in suffering until it affects them or their family directly. At that point their faith is often weakened and may collapse completely. In personal adversities, it is common to hear remarks like, “God couldn’t be a compassionate and loving God if he treats me like this! Where is he when I need him to prevent this sickness in my family, or at least to answer my prayers to save my dying child?” There’s nothing wrong with hurting, but there’s much wrong with self-pity when hurting. It is a sign of spiritual immaturity to react with indignation toward God in the face of hurts or hardships caused by or permitted by divine providence. Afflicted persons who wallow in the mud of self-pity and their inward-focused egocentricity are blind to the role of God’s eternally planned positive and/or permissive will in their life. God reprimanded Job for this fault. Every three seconds someone dies of starvation (mostly children), and countless millions of others are suffering far more than ourselves. But that fact will stir up very little compassion in persons who are almost totally preoccupied with their own afflictions or family problems. This talk teaches us to view our problems with a “God’s-eye-view”and reminds us not to “waste” the spiritual growth opportunities (and losable reward) in our afflictions, custom-designed for us by a solicitous and loving act of divine providence (see Heb. 12:5-6).