If The Lord Is With Us, Why Then Has All This Happened To Us?

If the Lord Is with Us, Why Then Has All This Happened to Us?

—Judges 6:13

Who of us has not asked this question? And probably more than once!

Gideon was about to battle the Midianites against seemingly insurmountable odds. The angel appeared and said, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 6:12). To which Gideon immediately replied, “Really? If that’s true, then why is all this happening to us?” In times of discouragement it is not unusual for some well-meaning “angel” to come along and say the same thing to us: “The Lord is with you.” But you’ve just lost your job. Your husband left. Your wayward teenager is in trouble. You are sick and your body is wracked with pain. When any of that happens, we might not say it out loud, but we are prone to echo Gideon: “If the Lord is with me, why has all this happened to me?”

We don’t have to look very far to find broken hearts, broken homes, or broken hopes. Bills can’t be paid. Relationships are slipping away. Business is not going well. Single moms are trying to hold their families together. There are a lot of us asking Gideon’s question today.

Centuries after Gideon’s time the apostle Paul not only encountered the reality behind this question, but he answered it for us in his letter to the Corinthians. Listen to Paul’s situation: “We were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God . . . who delivered us . . . in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf ” (2 Corinthians 1:8–11).

Discouragement that leads us to ask “Why?” is a modern-day plague. It has a paralyzing effect when we let it become our home and we settle into it. But once we acknowledge and face discouragement’s cause, we can move out of that discouragement and move into Paul’s answers to Gideon’s age-old question.

A PARALYSIS

Discouragement can have a paralyzing effect on us as it leads us to say, “I give out. I give in. I give up!”

“I give out.” This was Paul’s testimony. He related that “trouble” came his way and he was “burdened beyond measure” (2 Corinthians 1:8). He felt hemmed in. He was in a tight place, in a vise, under great pressure. We don’t know the exact essence of the problem, but everything was closing in on him and he was about to give out. Discouragement—then as well as today—can have a paralyzing effect on us.

“I give in.” Paul’s discouragement was turning into despair as—I believe—he was asking himself, “If the Lord is with me, why is all this happening to me?” It is just as well that Scripture veils the real issue at hand for him. That silence enables you and me to insert into the narrative our own point of discouragement. I have certainly been there, asking Gideon’s question, seeing the paralyzing effect of discouragement, and being tempted to say, “I give out. . . . I give in.”

“I give up!” Continuing his downward spiral, Paul confessed that he “despaired even of life” (v. 8). Who would have imagined this great apostle—who rallied the Romans by saying, “We are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37)—would feel so overwhelmed and so deeply discouraged and despairing? Discouragement can leave the strongest of individuals unable to take one more step.

Having lived on the Florida Atlantic coast for a decade and a half, I became well acquainted with many professional lifeguards. When they spotted someone in trouble in the ocean, the guards swam out to them but did not immediately lay hold of them. Instead the guards would tread water just beyond arm’s length. Why? The drowning swimmer’s kicking and thrashing and struggling could well take them both down and under. But when the struggling swimmers neared the end of their strength—when, in essence, they said, “I give out . . . I give in . . . I give up;” when they realized they were unable to save themselves—then the rescue began, and they were pulled safely to shore.

Some of us find ourselves in similarly treacherous waters. We know we’re going under, but we continue to kick and scream. We see the Lord an arm’s length away. Why doesn’t He do something? He may be waiting for you to come to the end of your self. He may be waiting for you to acknowledge that you are more in need of a rescue than you realized when you started reading this chapter.

AN ANALYSIS

A good medical doctor will do two things in analysis for treatment: look for a cause and then search for a cure.

Look for the cause. Why does God allow such a degree of discouragement that leads us to ask questions like Gideon’s? Paul indicated it is often to break us down. Why? In order to build us up. Paul revealed that his discouragement actually happened in order that “we should not trust in ourselves but in God” (2 Corinthians 1:9).

Most of us have been there. Some little victory comes our way, and we begin taking some of the credit and trusting in ourselves. Our Bibles remain closed in the morning. Prayer is pushed aside in the busyness of the day. Then something happens that makes us realize once again that “we should not trust in ourselves” (v. 9) but in the Lord.

A few chapters later in this same letter, Paul framed this truth by saying, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (12:10).

Search for a cure. The cure is twofold: it is in hope and in help. Paul said that his hope and trust were in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:10). And his help? “You also helping together in prayer for us” (v. 11). The English phrase “helping together” translates one compound Greek word meaning that we are in this together; we need each other. The word picture describes men and women working together under the same load and not against each other. Hope in Christ and help from others is the cure, enabling us to find our way out of the paralysis of discouragement.

“If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” Paul began his response by stating, “We do not want you to be ignorant . . . of our trouble” (v. 8). Most of us are just the opposite, often a little too proud to let our guard down. So we live with no hope, with little help, and, sadly, all too often, with no healing. Your discouragement can be cured by . . . “God who raises the dead” (v. 9).

Remember, the most recurring phrase in all the Bible appearing on nearly every page is this: “And it came to pass.” Discouraged? This too shall pass!

Q & A: “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” The ultimate answer is wrapped up in the mystery of God’s sovereign, all-loving, and perfect will. He has numbered the hairs of our heads, and He sees the sparrow when it falls. How much more does He care for you who are tempted to give out, give in, or worse, give up? He is with you!