Why?

Think back to when you were growing up.  The question that you always asked your parents was "Why?"  Why can't I stay up late?  Why can't I go to Billy's house?  Why can't I stick a knife in the toaster?  OK, so that last one you might not have actually asked, but maybe you asked something close to it.  We always wanted to know "Why?"  It was like the great question of the universe.

The answer that your parents always gave you: "Because I said so."  20 years ago, there was no "reasoning" with your child.  Your parents didn't have to give you a logical answer.  They didn't have to explain themselves.  Their answer was simply, "Because I said so" and we accepted that.  We may not have been happy about it, but we accepted it.

Have you ever wondered why God makes certain rules and regulations for us?  Our small group has been studying the idea of absolute morality.  For those of you that don't know what that is, moral absolutism is an ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong, regardless of other contexts such as their consequences or the intentions behind them.  This is a pretty heavy topic, but an important one none-the-less.

As we were talking, one of the group members stated that we often get the same response from God that we did our parents when we used to ask "Why?"  God says, "Because I said so."  We can beg and plead our case all we want, but God's answer is still the same.

Here's a great example: so why would God make a HUGE garden and put ONE tree that was "Off Limits?"  Why couldn't they eat from THAT tree?  It's fruit!  That makes NO sense to me.  But, I guess, God sees the bigger picture. 

I was reading Francis Chans "Crazy Love" a while back.  Early on in the book, Chan makes the same point.  His response was "When we, as people, start creating massive universes, then we can have the right to ask God 'Why?'"  That was loosely paraphrased but the meaning is still the same.  What gives me the right to know the mysteries of the universe?  What does it matter when God knows the bigger picture?  It takes faith and trust in Him.

So stop asking, "Why?"  Start saying "OK."