Why? “Why did my baby die?” “Why did I have to grow up in an abusive home?” “Why did my spouse leave me?” “Why did I have to have an alcoholic father?” “Why did I lose my job when I’m more qualified than others who kept theirs?” “Why?”
When we face difficult days, it’s easy to question God and His goodness. Fortunately there’s an incident in the Old Testament that’s very instructive on this topic.
When God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, that deliverance brought with it new hardships. Now the Israelites could have said, “Since God has delivered us from our slavery and promised us a prosperous, fruitful land of our own, surely He means us good and surely He knows what He is doing.” But instead they use questions to voice their accusations against God:
“Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword?” (Num. 11:20)
“Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?” (Num. 20:4)
“Why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? (Num. 20:5)
Now in the New Testament, the apostle Paul insists:
“No testing[1] has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he
will not let you be tested beyond your ability, but with the test he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)So who was right; the disgruntled Israelites or the apostle Paul?
In the account of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt, Moses notes:
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. (Exodus 13:17–18)
In order to get from Egypt to the promised-land the Israelites had to go north east. The easy way would be to hug the Mediterranean coast and take the broad fertile coastal plain of southwestern Israel. Level ground, easy travel, plenty of water and vegetation. The only other way was to head east and then north through “the great and terrible wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water.[2]
Because God was looking out for His people He chose “the great and terrible wilderness!” Why? Look at the Exodus passage again. God knows that the geographically easy coastal plain will bring them face to face with the Philistine strongholds and their armies with chariots, and trained, well-equipped warriors. And God knows that heading straight into arm conflict with such an enemy would be too much for the Israelites to handle. Only days before they had been slaves. And when they first leave Egypt they have little national cohesiveness and virtually no military leaders, training, or experience. God knows that they would simply be unable to handle warfare at this point. They would panic and head right back into Egyptian slavery. In Paul’s words, God was “not letting them be tested beyond their ability.” He was providing a way out so that they would be able to survive the trial. That’s the view from up in the stands. But down on the field it looked like God had led them straight into danger, hardship, thirst, and death by starvation. They see it that way for one simple reason: They don’t trust God! And there’s always a price for not trusting God. Their unbelief expanded their journey in the “great and terrible wilderness” from two years to forty! That whole unfaithful first generation never entered the promised-land!
And so it is with us. Whether it’s slavery in Egypt or our own slavery to sin there is no easy, comfortable way from our slavery to the promised-land. And God is still the same. Because He really doesn’t want us to be tested beyond our breaking point, He often chooses to take us through a wilderness so that he can keep us out of fatal warfare. So we must ask ourselves: “Is He actually letting me be tested beyond what I can bear, or is this trial really His way out of something far worse?” And in the midst of the trial the challenge is always: “Will I trust Him?”
[1] The Greek word here can be translated “tempt” when the issue is evil, or more generally “test” when there is just some trial or difficulty in view. Since in 1 Corinthians Paul has been discussing the repeated failure of the Israelites under the “tests” that they faced in the wilderness, “test” seems more likely that “tempt.”
[2] .”(Deut. 8:15).