Why?

The Word of Wonder

One of the first questions we learn to ask in life is “Why”. “Why is the sky blue?”,“Why do I have to take a bath?”,”Why does the back of your arm jiggle?” (That one may have hurt my feelings once!), “Why can’t I have a tiger?”,”Why do the stars twinkle?” Any parent of a preschooler can tell you the list is eternal! We begin our lives in a world of wonder --- we wonder about every little thing we see and hear.

Perhaps we lose some of our curiosity as we get older or maybe we just stop asking every question that pops in our head, but as we mature the frequency of our whys decreases. It seems as though we lose some of our wonder and stop asking some of the questions; until the problems roll in, that is. Then we default back to the whys. “Why me?”, “Why this?”,“Why now?” As we grapple for understanding the whys just roll through our mind and out of our mouths. I think it is as much a part of our human nature as the whys of a three-year-old.

What I have been thinking about is why don’t we ask why when things are good? When the kids are healthy, and the bills are paid we rarely stop to ask why. When the car doesn’t run out of gas even though it has been on E a little too long, we breathe a sigh of relief as we coast into the station, but we don’t ask why we made it. When we get an unexpected bonus or some small sign of grace we don’t bother to ask why now or why me?

I wonder why we are so quick to question when things are bad and so slow to do so when things are good?  Do you want to know why good things happen to you? Want to know why your teenagers are doing okay and you slept in a warm, safe bed last night? Want to know why that car almost hit you yesterday and didn’t? Want to know why you didn’t have enough money in your account and yet somehow you made it through the month? Want to know why someone was kind to you out of the blue yesterday when you were privately having a really bad day? It is because, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

Why are we so quick to question him when things are rough and so slow to stand in wonder when things are good? In the past few years of my life I have begun to see that why not might be the more appropriate question when things are bad. We live in a broken world. The surprise is not that bad things happen, but that they don't happen a lot more often. Most days (actually probably all days) my life is way better than I deserve yet I don't ask why. Asking why on the good days leads us to a place of gratitude and appreciation. It reminds us that tiny little miracles happen all day every day if we just begin to wonder again. I don't know about you, but I need the joy of those little wonders to keep me afloat in a world that seems full of ugliness.  I want more whys in my life. "Why does that rain smell so good and the sky look so beautiful tonight?" "Why do I see my grandad in my boy's twinkly eyes?", "Why do my eyes water when I laugh so hard?","Why did he use so many colors and textures when he really didn't have to?" "Why so many different variations of butterflies and flowers?", "Why does my God love me when I am so undeserving?", "Why?", "Why?", "Why?"

Let's return to the word of wonder! WHY?