Why Weeks

We all get a couple of “why weeks” in our lives - usually more than a couple. You know what I mean, these are the days when we find ourselves saying things like: “Why this?”; “Why us?”; “Why now?” These are the troubled times.

Su has been wandering through a “why week” that has now gone on for several weeks. Last night I sat, stood and lay by her hospital bed as she cried from her pain until she was finally given morphine at 2:30am. Pain has a special ability to produce why weeks, all by itself.

Of course, God has a purpose in allowing His children to go through why weeks. He is never caught flat-footed, snapping His omnipotent fingers and saying, “Shoot! That situation with Su just got past me. Now, what am I going to do?” He is not responsible for the realities we experience living in this fallen world, but He will take advantage of each challenging situation to do His perfect will in our lives.

Some random thoughts on why weeks that have gone through my sleep-deprived brain while sitting in the hospital:

Why weeks test the strength of our faith. In 2 Chronicles 32:31 we find an interesting detail about King Hezekiah, “…God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.” Obviously, God already knew what was in Hezekiah’s heart - He knows everything! In this case, God used Hezekiah’s why week to help the king understand what was in his own heart.

I have always wanted to be a man of great faith, pleasing to God. Sometimes I fool myself into thinking that I have actually made progress toward that goal. The why weeks in my life (or in Su’s life) reveal a heart that it is still painfully inadequate in the faith category.

Why weeks humble us – more than someone who once made his home in Texas naturally wants to be humbled! Paul wrote about his own why week, “…a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.” (2 Corinthians 12:7b) Paul had received profound revelations directly from Jesus. He had seen God’s spirit working in incredible ways. Still, or maybe because of all that, God used Paul’s why weeks to help him grow in humility.

I have grown weary of Christian leaders so-filled with themselves that it becomes hard to find Jesus in their words or actions. I am especially weary of when that Christian leader is sometimes me! God must humble us to use us. Why weeks are one of the tools he uses to bring us to a place where we become useful in His hands.

Eventually, why weeks are redeemed because they teach us lessons we can share with others. Earlier in 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote to his disciples, “Blessed be the.. God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3,4) It sounds like a biblical tongue-twister, but it reveals the promise that lessons learned in the midst of our why weeks will not be wasted.

I doubt any lesson I could learn would be worth the price of the pain and nausea that Su has paid this week. However, that is probably my lack of faith speaking. Truth be told – and we always want to speak the truth – the testimony of God’s work in our lives will one day serve someone else passing through their own why week.

While Su has been in the hospital, Ticos celebrated their annual pilgrimage to the Virgin of Los Angeles in Cartago. On August 1 and 2 the city is full of pilgrims who have walked to the Virgin to pay homage or ask special favors. Many of them end their trip by crawling on their knees across the plaza in front of the basilica and down the center aisle of the church. When asked why they do it, many respond by explaining that it is a Costa Rican tradition and they enjoy the fellowship of other people’s company on the road.

My guess is that some of you reading these mad-meanderings (inspired by one-too-many days at my wife's bedside) may be going through your own why weeks. From one pilgrim on the road to another, I want to encourage you to listen for the lessons that God will teach you. They may be just what I need to hear as we keep on walking together.