Why? This is a question many people have thrown to the heavens in an attempt to understand the hard things of life. They are not alone. Many writers in the scriptures have asked the same thing. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?” (Psalms 22:1-2).
I have been impressed by faithful people in the scriptures who have asked “why?” I don’t feel so bad about the times I ask “why?”, especially since I believe that faithful people trust God to deliver them. But there are times when I am tired, when painful circumstances seem to go on forever and the rescue seems to be delayed and I feel like I’m slogging through the trial on my own that tests my faith and my belief in God’s deliverance. “Why” is more than a question in these moments. It is an expression of the deep sense of abandonment and loss that I feel in that moment. I often find myself struggling to feel hope.
I can learn from David, who after expressing a few manifestations of his abandonment, rallies and finds hope. “[The Lord} hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid his face, but when he cried unto him, he heard” (Psalm 22:24).
As Jesus hung on the cross, He quoted the first line of this Psalm to express His agony. “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46).
When I am feeling low and alone, I need to remember, I am not alone. The Savior, himself, suffered all things, even complete aloneness. He asked to let the “bitter cup” pass, but was willing to take if it was the will of The Father. Just before death, he was offered a sponge with vinegar and bitter herbs to quince His thirst. Elder Neal A. Maxwell characterized the Savior’s accomplishment as partaking of the bitter cup without becoming bitter (“In Him All Things Hold Together,” BYU devotional, Mar. 13, 1991). Why?
Because he loves me. He loves all of God’s children throughout all time. He taught us how to endure hard things. Imagine the impact disciples of Jesus Christ could have if they practiced the same level of willingness, the same willingness to trust God and trust in God’s plan, to experience suffering and sorrow without passing it along and without letting it define them! Like the maror, the bitter herbs the Hebrews consume before the pPascal lamb, our suffering can turn our hearts to Jesus, who promises to replace the bitterness with joy beyond imagination.
This past Easter Season, my testimony of Christ deepened. I reaffirmed my belief that I do not need to absorb the hard things and make them a part of the fabric of my life. I can move through the hard times without dwelling on them and I can allow bitterness to give way to joy and peace through Christ.
Resigning as the General Manager of the Universe 