On that day you will not question me about anything.

"On that day you will not question me about anything," says the Lord. Throughout our lives, we often find ourselves questioning the providence of the Lord. In our pride, we find ourselves tempted to question the Lord's prudence as if His own designs weren't more marvelous than our own. The truth is that we're not always going to see what good is going to come out of those trials and those sufferings, yet the Lord has given us ample reason to put our faith in Him and His providence.

The Problem of evil

Often, trials crush people's faith. If God is so loving and so powerful, why doesn't He put an end to all of this suffering? He must be either not so loving or not so powerful! That's a tough question for Christians to answer. It's not about whether God is the cause of evil but whether He should let evil be at all. At this point we reach the unsearchable mind of God. God doesn't give us a clear answer to why He should allow evil. However, the Lord does something just as good for us: He joins us on the Cross. When we suffer the Cross, we know the Lord is nearest because it is through the death of Christ that we can draw near to the Most High. In light of the Pascal mystery, suffering and death take on a new meaning. Jesus compares it to the mother who is giving birth. She suffers in her labor but when the child arrives, she forgets the pain because of her joy.

In Labor

We too are in labor. We toil and sweat in the world facing the daily onslaught of temptation. We suffer in innumerable sorts of ways: some tiny, some very big. But in the same way that labor brings about the mother's joy, our suffering will bring about our joy. "Blessed are the sorrowful, for they shall be comforted." "Blessed be the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." There is going to be a great reversal of the world at the end of time in which the Lord will cast down the mighty from their thrones and lift up the lowly. While you suffer now, soon when you see the Lord, "your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you." No one will take your joy away from you. The good Lord directs our hearts to Hope. We Hope, sure hope, that the Lord will come and save us from our misery and bless us with eternal life. This world is coming to an end, and we will clap for joy. Even now, we can begin to "shout to God with cries of gladness, for the LORD the Most High, the awesome is the great king over all the earth."

God is trustworthy.

It is the Lord God who is king of all the earth. It is Him who guides the world. He is a good, gentle shepherd, who lays down His life for His sheep. People deny His goodness and His gentleness and they think it is foolish to trust in a God who has made such a wreck of a world. And I say, that there is more to the world than they know. If Jesus Christ was willing to give up His own life and suffer the weight of all the sins of the world, how is this not proof enough that God is trust worthy? Yes, you have questions and the Lord is not yet giving us straight answers. He doesn't explain all of His ways to us, but in the Cross and resurrection, He has given us ample reason to trust Him.