I asked God why, “Why all this pain?
Why must I struggle? Is it in vain?”
I asked God why, “Why give me grief?
How can it help to sow belief?”
I asked God why, “Why did I offend?
Do You punish me as though I sinned?”
I asked God why, “Why does my plea
fall on deaf ears? Are You mad at me?”
I asked God why, “Why must I strive,
only to be rejected by the Most High?”
God seemed silent in my despair.
But just when I dare ask Him where…
He’d gone from me and hid His face,
angels flood my soul with astounding grace:
“Look in His Word
and you will see,”
their still small voice
then said to me.
The rain He sends, and so sunbeams,
to both the righteous and unredeemed.
So pain does come, but will subside
like methodic waves of the evening tide…
that wear the shore in foaming swirl,
but leave behind the precious pearl.
Affliction grips us in our fate,
but yields a glory of surpassing weight.
And what of grief that I endure?
What Balm
is there to lend a cure?
His Word said that though I mourn
I am comforted, as Paul was with his thorn.
For with it came strength Paul could not own
apart from Christ and Him alone.
But offending God, yes, I have…
with countless sins and golden calves.
I’ve danced with them and sang them songs,
exposing to what my heart belongs.
So punishment, it is deserved.
Yet not on me,
for I bore no tree,
but on the Christ who served.
Our God is good, and hears my groan
and interceded from His throne;
but angry, he was, for it is known:
a holy Judge will not condone…
evil acts and broken laws,
He cannot, simply, just because:
if He did, He would be unjust;
so punishment, it is a must…
but instead of you and me,
He placed His Son up on that tree;
and there His wrath was executed
with all the righteousness imputed…
onto us who see our sin,
and trust that Christ will come again.
And so, my failings, even my good deeds
are fithy rags compared to these.
How can I make it up to Him,
I pined as joy and hope grew dim…?
until His Word declared Good News:
This is a gift I can never loose!
I cannot earn it, it can’t be bought—
for it’s been purchased at tremendous cost.
I thought Him silent;
though He still speaks.
I thought Him arrogant;
though He is meek.
I thought Him cold and distant, base;
though He is truth, and He is grace.
So now my spirit will rise as my flesh dies
as glorious as the sun-kissed skies,
all because Jesus opened my eyes…
on the day, I dared, to ask God why.
References from the Holy Bible:
Line 13 – Psalm 29:7
Line 14 – John 1:16
Line 17 – 1 Kings 19:11-13
Line 19 – Matthew 5:45
Line 24 – Matthew 13:45-46
Line 26 – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Line 28 – Jeremiah 8:22
Line 30 – Matthew 5:4
Line 32 – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Line 34 – Romans 5:12; Romans 5:18-19
Line 35 – Exodus 20:4-6; Exodus 32:1-35
Line 37 – Jeremiah 17:9
Line 40 – Galatians 3:13-14
Line 41 – Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45
Line 42 – Psalm 66:18-19, Romans 8:26-27
Line 48 – Proverbs 17:15
Line 51 – John 3:16
Line 52 – Isaiah 53:10
Line 53 – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Line 54 – Numbers 21:9
Line 55 – Mark 14:62
Line 57 – Isaiah 64:6
Line 61 – John 10:28, Romans 5:15-16
Line 62 – Ephesians 2:8-10
Line 63 – 1 Peter 1:19
Line 65 – 2 Timothy 3:16
Line 67 – Matthew 11:29
Line 69 – John 1:14
Line 70 – Romans 6:3-4
Line 72 – Matthew 13:16