Why me?

Oakland Independent Article November 22, 2017

When something bad happens to you, do you ever ask God, "Why did this happen?" or just "Why me?" Often we want an answer for why God allowed some hard circumstance like an illness, death, or conflict into our lives. We can easily think it is unfair of God to allow so many bad things to happen to us.

How often though have you ever turned the question around and asked God "Why did this happen to me?" when you get something good?

Why God do you . . .

. . . paint the beautiful sunset with so many colors.

. . . make steak so tasty.

. . . make a smile from my wife so enjoyable.

. . . make coffee smell so good.

. . . make a baby's giggle so infectious.

. . . make a day hunting with friends and kids so memorable.

. . . make a world filled with so many daily pleasures they are hard to count.

. . . use the hard things to help us appreciates the good things and teach us character.

. . . love me even when I don't love you.

. . . offer grace and mercy through the work of Jesus to sinners like me.

. . . promise an even better, everlasting world to those who will accept your gift.

When trouble comes into our lives it is easy to focus exclusively on them and forget all the past, current and promised blessings. When we focus on the trouble it seems overwhelming, but when we focus on the blessings, we will be overwhelmed with gratitude. Furthermore we end up getting happiness as an added benefit. Dennis Prager, a radio talk show host, dedicates an hour of his show every week to happiness, and he has come to the conclusion that key to happiness is learning to be grateful for the many blessing in our lives.

Johnson Oatman, Jr., the writer of the hymn, "Count Your Blessings" understood this, as he wrote . . .

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

1. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. 

During this week of Thanksgiving, remember that thanksgiving should not be done just one day a year, but rather should become a lifestyle. Then when struggles come (and they will!), we will see more clearly that they are not the main point of life.  If we ask, "Why me?" in all circumstances, we will come to understand it is because God loves us,  and wants us to live with Him forever. He is using the good and the bad to draw us to Himself, so that we can experience His goodness all the time!