Are You a “Why” Person?

Psalm 9-12 God’s Longsuffering Patience

We are learning more and more about the power of prayer in the lives of believers. Yet there will always be those who rebuff God and refuse to bow the knee or utter words of praise to Him. They are like the men in Romans 1:20 who see the evidence of his power and His love, yet deny him. Just like the psalmist, we go before Him to ask: “Why, Lord, do you stand afar off?” Why do you not remove these evil men?

The answer is that God is full of compassion, mercy and his patience is far beyond ours. He continues to offer evidence until like Pharaoh; they have hardened their hearts beyond the point of no return. Then, He allows the waves of death to come, and like the people in Noah’s day, they realize it is too late. Their ears were seared beyond hearing the gospel message and so they die and enter Torments where they meet the rich man of Luke 16, who said, don’t let them come here. 

But, even as believers, we also often fail to stop and praise God for things like pandemics. We are like Peter, whose eyes were on Jesus as he stepped out of the boat but then let the winds whistle and the roar of the water take our attention. We see the evidence of his power, yet hear God ask: Why don’t you trust me and my plans?