Why.
It’s a simple, three-letter word. Packed with emotion.

It cries out for an answer to
pain
sickness
loss
betrayal
cycles of poverty
meaningless tragedy
struggle
loneliness
and fear.

Why? Why is this the life we experience?
No … really.

Why?
It’s a longing for meaning. A searching for purpose.

For some reason, we think that if we knew a meaning, if there were a purpose,
we wouldn’t break apart under the crushing weight of unanswered pain.

There is also another why. It’s not just a request for meaning … it’s an accusation.

Why did it work out for them … and not me?
Why did she get better … and I didn’t?
Why was his son miraculously healed …
while my daughter struggles—frustrated, angry—with pain and limitations?

Why does God sometimes seem to act gloriously in the here-and-now, displaying His power
and other times … He seems silent, distant, inactive, uncaring?

Why?
It is the question of the ages, echoing up from the past,
shaking the very foundation of our souls.

There is one final why.
Because right in the middle of the pain and nonsense and struggle of it all,
we find goodness.
Why?

If there really is no meaning or purpose to life,
if it’s all random, if it’s all hopeless,
why should we expect to find good at all?

Pain and joy
despair and hope
loneliness and love
brokenness and beauty
are inseparably woven together in the fabric of life.
They do not fully exist apart from each other.

To ask why pain exists or why miracles happen or why life had to be this way
is like asking why water had to be wet or why music had to have sound.

Why is not the most helpful question.
It leads to an endless downward spiral of emptiness,
searching for someone or something to blame.

A better question is … what now?

Based on what has happened, based on my pain, based on my struggle,
based on the miracle, based on the beauty that I see and the strength that I’ve been given …
what now?

What now draws us into the future instead of trapping us in the past.
What now invites us to take action, to learn, to lean forward.
What now accepts what is … while at the same moment looks forward to what could be.

What now connects us with the creative power that announced goodness out of chaos in the ancient past and—at the same moment—links us with
the hope-filled presence of the One who is calling us to a home outside of time.

What now leads us to a next step. And to the steps that come after that.
What now can change your perspective, it can be the catalyst for a life where you
honor the pain you’ve experienced, where you draw the meaning out of the meaningless,
and where you discover the good that is mixed in with the mud and muck of life.
(You really won’t find good anywhere else.)

What now is a much better question than why.
Mostly because why is a question that you will never be able to truly answer.

But what now?
That’s a question that only you can answer.
You can answer it right now, today, in this moment.

And that answer can carry you home.

Hebrews 11:13-16