About two weeks ago, I drove a white "activity" bus downtown with five teenagers aboard to serve dinner at a homeless shelter. It was my first time driving the activity bus in a year, and it wasn't the best day for it. Traffic was heavy and the winds were high. As I puttered along at 55mph along the crowded interstate, the winds blew harder, and the rain started coming down, and all I could do was grip the steering wheel with all my might, clench my teeth, pay as much attention to the road as possible, and pray under my breath that we would get down and back safely. In the middle the kids said, Hey Profe, do you know the (interior) lights are on? I looked in the mirror, and sure enough, they were, but I COULD NOT understand WHY!! I hadn't pushed any buttons to turn them on! But I couldn't focus on that, I had to just keep driving and stay on the road! After a short detour through the narrow streets of downtown Indianapolis and heavy traffic, we arrived. I radioed in for help with the lights, which still didn't turn off no matter which button I pushed, and stumped the lady on the other end of the radio connection. Neither of us could figure out why those lights were still on, and I couldn't leave them that way to come back to a dead battery!
Little did I know that day that driving that activity bus in the wind and rain would be an apt metaphor for the next few weeks of my life. That week the winds of adversity started blowing around me and my friends. It was time to put into practice the lessons I'd been taught in January and February about what to do when life inexplicably becomes difficult.
The hardest part about having faith in this time of trial is not asking the WHY question, but instead the WHO question. As our pastor preached on Job, this was the main thing that stuck out to me. Don't ask WHY, ask WHO God is, and then trust Him!
(Listen to him yourself if you want at http://www.yourchurch.com/sermon/the-reverence-and-relevance-of-job/). But this is what I am called to do, even as I watch several of my friends go through hard things that make no sense. Just as I had to ignore the interior lights being on while driving through the storm, so by faith I need to set aside the angry WHYS and concentrate on gripping onto God as tightly as I gripped that steering wheel.
God may never answer the WHYS, but he will be faithful! We made it to Wheeler and back without any harm to ourselves or the vehicle! The lights suddenly turned off (I still don't know why or what I did differently) and I was able to go in, serve, come out, start the vehicle, and go safely home.
As we struggle to stay on the path of faith, may God give us the strength, faith, and grace we need to set aside the whys and hold on to Him with white knuckles, because He is faithful.
