To Be or not to Be..the Big Dog that weighed a ton?

Why?

The city is in flames!  Our wives and kids are hostages. We are a laughingstock to our enemies!  We followed this David and this is what we get!  (1 Samuel 30) Why?

            My wives and children are either dead or they are slaves!  My men are talking about stoning me and my own king wants to separate my head from my shoulders!  Why?

            These were the “somebody has done me wrong” songs sang by David and his “about to break up” band! It is a common song that most of us can relate to.  Most of us have taken a turn at writing our own verses to the dirge!

            Why didn’t you bring my sister home?  My three year old asked me that in December of 1988 when my wife and I came home with empty arms after the stillbirth of our daughter Rachael.  It was easy to dismiss questions like, “why is grass green”, or “why is the sky blue?”  This question, however, was impossible to ignore because it was also my question!

            We had lost a future!  We had lost a dream!  Our home had been made ready to receive our little bundle of joy and instead we came home burdened by sorrow.  Why would that happen to us?      Our daughter would have been twenty-four years old this year and hardly a day goes by that I don’t think of her.  Those years have gone by and I still have not received the answer to Amanda’s question.  I have however, learned a more important question to ask and that is “what”?  What am I going to do with the kids that I have?  You see I don’t have any control over the child that I don’t have.

            If you read Psalm 34 you find David’s answer to the questions he had asked at Ziklag and I have found his answer to ring true. “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.” He didn’t deliver David by allowing him to wallow in self-pity.  Deliverance came a step at a time and every step began with David’s praising God for who he is.  When David received the bitter pill of circumstances beyond his control he washed them down with the sweet tasting water of the Lord’s word.  David found courage to ask the “what” question in the midst of the “why” question.   

            All who go through hard times will ask the question “why”.  The question could have paralyzed the Kettle family with grief if it wasn’t for the goodness of the Lord.  We have tasted of the sweet water that David tasted and we can verify that it is still good!

            Why?  Though my answer has been delayed it won’t be denied!  I will hope in God because when I see him I will have my answer. What? Taste and see that the Lord is good and drink from the well often!  I can’t control the bitter pills of circumstances beyond my control but I can wash them down with sweet water as I continue to taste and see that the Lord is good!  I hope you will take a taste as well!