Why Would God Let This Happen?

The Real

For the past two weeks we have been in this series, How Long Oh Lord, where we have been talking about pain, hurt, burden, and brokenness. And we’ve asked questions like, “What is pain?” And “why do I hurt?” And tonight we are going to ask the question that we all have asked before and if you haven’t, there will come a time where you will: “Why would God let this happen?”

I’ve prayed this prayer many times. When I was younger it usually involved something silly like, “why did the Vols lose? Didn’t he hear my prayer?” Well, I still pray that one… frequently, but as I got older, my understanding of how God works matured a bit, and I wouldn’t sweat the little things as much, but I still prayed. I prayed for good grades. I prayed for good jobs. I prayed for girlfriends. Whenever I didn’t get what I wanted though, I’d pray that same prayer, “God, why did this happen?” I knew that the things that I was upset about were all superficial, but I still wanted them, and it still stung when I didn’t get my way.

I wish that I could say that as an adult I never question why God would allow things that I do not understand to happen to me, but if I said that it would be a lie. Every now and then there is something that seems really important to me that I think I need, and it seems on every level to lineup with what God’s Word says he wants for my life — and God just says, “no.”

The Rub

You’ve felt that too, haven’t you? There is something that you want or need, and there’s no good reason why you shouldn’t have it, but God just says, “no.” In your mind, everything lines up perfectly, but for whatever reason, you don’t get your way.

Maybe for you it’s a relationship, a relationship you just knew that you were supposed to be in and there’s no understandable reason why you shouldn’t be in that relationship, but God just said, “no.”

Or maybe you’ve tried fixing a relationship, be it with a friend, sibling, parent, significant other, whatever it was, and no matter how much you poured into making it better and no matter how broken your prayers to God were, there just never was any discernible improvement. 

Some of you have experienced real life and death situations. Someone was sick, and it didn’t make sense that it would happen to him or her. You begged and you pleaded with God, but he said, “no.”

What do you do when God says no? What do you do when you are in a bad situation and you wonder, why would God allow this to happen?

The Read

tells a story of God saying no. Believe it or not the impact of these events in this chapter have a very real felt impact in today’s day and age.

This I show Luke paints it in starting in verse 6:

[Slide]

6They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

7When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

8Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas.

Earth shattering right? Just kidding, to you and me this is just a list of names and places that we’re largely unfamiliar with, but this is what you need to understand: Paul was the first-ever missionary. This was his second mission trop, and up to this point, he hadn’t gone to the churches that he had started just a few years before on his first mission trip. On the first trip he started churches all over teh southeastern part of the region that we now call Turkey. 

[Slide: maps]

His plan on his second trip was to continue to do what he had done on his first mission trip. He wanted to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth. That sounds good right? How could God say no to wanting to take a mission trip? Here’s Paul, saying that he is about to tell people who had never heard about Jesus ever before and he was going to go and share the gospel with them, that they can have. Aright relationship with God and they can be forgiven of all sins… that sounds like a plan. 

But what do you think was God’s response? — No.

I’m certain that was confusing for Paul. Why would the answer ever possibly be, “no,” I’m going to go share the gospel — No. Wait… What?”

But God said, “no.” So Paul comes up with a new plan. Instead of going to Asia, he would go to Bithynia, which is North Central Turkey. They people that lived there had also never heard the good news of Jesus. The people that lived there needed a savior, but when Paul tried to go there, God once again said, “no.” Two times Paul tried to take the news of Jesus to people who had never heard it, and two times, God said, “no.”

At this point, Paul and his traveling party had to walk across most of what is modern-day Turkey. They did no know where they were supposed to go, because God rejected the last two ideas, ideas that made perfect sense to Paul. They were in a town called Troas, right on the Aegean Sea and Paul had a vision in his sleep. 

[Slide: ]

(CSB)

9 During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

What continent is Turkey in? Asia. What continent is Greece or Macedonia in? Europe. The gospel spread to Europe, not because Paul had a desire to go to Europe, but because God said no to Paul going where he originally wanted.

How many of you would say that your ancestors are European? Do you realize how different our world would look I fChristianity had note spread to Europe? I am sure that one way or another, the news of Jesus would have crossed the entire world, but who knows how much longer it would have taken if God did not use Paul to take his message to Europe at this point in history. 

Now do me a favor, what is the first word in verse 6? Now in verse 10 who does it say made immediate efforts to set out for Macedonia? “We,” right? Now don’t miss this. Who is it that wrote Acts? Luke, that’s right. And obviously he wrote the Gospel according to Luke as well… The thought here is that at this point, Luke picked up his life, he might have started believing in Jesus at this moment, and decided I’m going to record all of this so it can be shared…

Why do I bring all of this up? Because Luke provided for us arguably one of the most detailed and reasoned accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus and also recorded this boom of Christianity that happened over the first century. He started writing everything down in detail and it resulted in an incredibly significant portion of the Bible being written and shared. And how did that happen? Because God told Paul, “No.”

I’m sure that Paul looked at his passion to go to Asia and knowing that God was keeping it from happening he thought, “Why the heck can I not do what I want to do? I’m laying it all out here not the line, surely God will throw me a bone here.

But because of God saying, “no” and Paul being humble enough to listen to God’s leading, the Gospel traveled farther and faster than it ever had before. Different people that had never heard the good news of Jesus put their faith and trust in him, and our world and our bible looks very different than if they would have if god had said yes to Paul’s way. 

The Ready

Again I ask something similar to when we opened up our message tonight… have you ever wanted something so bad, and some very real closed doors just let you know that God wasn’t going to let it happen? 

In 2016 I married Becca, I was dead convinced that the internship that I was serving in would turn into a full time job and life was great… Until that internship didn’t turn into a full time job. I’m newly married. I feel the weight and the pressure of providing for my wife and there is rapidly approaching a day where I will not be able to. 

I don’t think that I have ever battled full-fledged depression, but if I could point to a season in my life where I was closest, this would probably be it. I cried every day, and not necessarily because I was sad, but I felt a fear that I had never felt before and it absolutely crippled me. 

After a lot of difficult conversations, Becca and I made the very hard decision that we were going to move to North Carolina for me to finish school, knowing that I needed to do that at some point in my life in order to best pursue being a pastor, and we up and moved 9 hours away from family. 

I couldn’t have told you in the moment why God so obviously shut the door on us staying in Nashville that first time around but through tears and feeling like a failure, I knew that God was leading us. And as if it was a sick joke I got an email less than a month later saying, “we have your resume on file, would you like to apply for ________” job in Franklin? But Becca and I knew that we were stepping out in faith, not knowing the end result, to where God was leading us to go.

The Response

What has God said no to in your life? What is it that has you asking, “God, how could you let this happen?” We have been talking about pain: physical pain, relational pain, emotional pain… We are going to go through pain. But what if we looked at pain a little differently?

What if instead of asking, “God, how could you let this happen?” We asked, “God what are you preparing me for by allowing me to go through this?” 

God knows the future. The things he allows us to go through now prepare us for better things that he has planned later ultimately boiling up to the people from every part of this earth singing praises to Jesus in heaven for all eternity. 

Why are you enduring? Why are you suffering? Maybe it's a call to lean into him with all the trust that you have. Maybe many years from now you will be able to sit across a table over a cup of coffee and tell someone in the darkest moment of their life, “yeah, I’ve been there. And this is how God kept me going.”

Your suffering is not pointless. But though as unpleasant and unimaginable as it may be here and now, you need to know that hope is here and his name is Jesus. He suffered more than just the lashes of a whip, and puncture wounds from nails in his hands and in his feet. He suffered and died to an eternal pain so that even on your darkest day you could know with every fiber of your being that you will know a day of total, complete, unhindered joy that lasts forever, and ever, and ever. 

Bow your heads and close your eyes for me… 

As you sit there in the stillness of this room, I want you to ask yourself, “When have I last heard God’s voice in my life?” You may be in the midst of a season where you either think that he’s not there, he’s not listening, or he doesn’t care… 

If that is you right now, I pray that you would hear the exact words of Jesus when he said, 

“Come to me all you who are weary, and heavy-laden. And I will give you… rest.” 

Are you weary? Are you heavy-laden or burdened? Lay it all down at the foot of the cross knowing that all of that has been paid for. Though we may endure for a little while, the day is coming where we will see God with no more confusion, no more wondering what he is like or how much he loves us… because he’s going to be right in front of your face…

Oh Heavenly Father

I pray that whatever we are enduring in the here and now, you would make us live with anticipation for that day, where we get to be with you  with no more question, no more doubt, no more pain. Let us live for that day. 

Amen.