“Why Lord?” A Question of doubt or a Prayer?

Fr. Marcel Divine Okwara CSsR

In every form of suffering endured by humans, and “at the same time at the basis of the whole world of suffering,” there is always the question about why? or why Lord? Why do I suffer? Why must I suffer? Why do I feel so much pain? Why Lord are my tears in vain? Why Lord does it happen this way? If there is a God who cares, how can such a God permit so much suffering in the world? The expression “Why Lord?” is about the cause, purpose, meaning and the significance of human suffering.  It is primarily addressed not to any human but to God alone.

Suffering is an existential phenomenon that is widespread in animal world. But it seems only the suffering human knows that s/he is suffering and therefore wonders why. As an existential human phenomenon, suffering does not discriminate; it affects all people of all nations, tribes and religions. It confronts theists and atheists; it affects agnostics and active religious people. Suffering worries and troubles both the rich and the poor; it is a concern for literates and illiterates. Virtually every field of study- pure sciences and social sciences, still grapples with the question of suffering. Every religion on earth wrestles with the existence and the whyness of suffering in the world, and attempts to offer some satisfactory answers to the cause, reason and purpose of suffering. When adherents of any religion align themselves to the reasonable answers given by their religious faith, most times the absurdity and utter despair that sometimes follow the experience of suffering are quelled. Suffering is an unpleasant human experience that incites especially a believer in God to ask the question “Why Lord?”

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the question “Why Lord?” is an expression of doubt or a form of prayer. For some time now, I have been reflecting over that expression to see whether it is a question of frustration from the one who suffers or a very brief form of prayer of a sufferer seeking and beckoning on the One who alone is good to send relieve. So in this short essay, I will attempt to reflect over the expression that most of often than not is generated by the pain of suffering. But I want the reader to understand beforehand that this is not purely a research work. It is essentially a product of my own independent reflection on the common expression “Why Lord?” In that case, I am not obliged to make references to prior works of scholars. This essay therefore is purely my personal reflection on the subject of Why Lord?   This paper is not a treatise on suffering. I have already written a more comprehensive work on the treatise of suffering titled “SUFFERING IN THE BUDDHIST AND CHRISTIAN TRADITION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS”

The expression “Why Lord?” is a question that only suffering and disorder generate. It's a common question that arises out of unspeakable suffering. When those who suffer pose the question, their intent is not to challenge God or to engage God in a debate of why they suffer. The question is a reaction to suffering, and not a rejection of God. The question contains an inherent longing for relief. Contrary to some opinions, the question is not a turning away from God rather a turning towards God, the One who alone is good and who alone can heal.

All human suffering, no matter the size, shape or form is an unpleasant experience or as a friend puts it “an unsweet experience. The pain of suffering spurs humans to raise some questions. While some of the questions are confrontational, others are profoundly and reflectively prayerful. In pain, the human person seeks for solution, or at least, an understanding or a meaning to suffering. Job in the Old Testament of the Christian Scriptures was an upright man who too found himself in an unspeakable suffering. Job was described as “blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1). According to the Old Testament understanding of riches and suffering, Job’s wealth, riches, and good health were a testimony of his righteousness. According to their doctrine of retribution, it is only the unrighteous that suffers. But Job’s situation did not remain unchanged. He also experienced severe suffering. He lost everything- family, wealth, and good health. Though Job did not loose his faith in God, but the deep pain of his suffering incited him to question God. Job’s question when summarized is “Why Lord?” “Why Lord did you allow all these terrible things to befall me?” Job’s question should never be interpreted as a declaration of his doubt or a turning away from the Lord. The man of suffering wanted to understand. Part of the reasons why suffering brings deep pain and grief is our inability to understand its raison d’être.  We don’t know why we suffer. We don’t understand why we suffer. We don’t know the purpose of suffering.

So, in his confusion and pain, Job did not turn away from God, he turned to God instead, and sought to know why he was being ravaged by all sorts of suffering. The expression “Why Lord?” is an attempt to understand the meaning of one’s suffering from the Lord. It is not a rejection of God, rather an acknowledgment of the reality of God and his power to prevent suffering. “Why Lord?” is a profound question seeking for the meaning of suffering. As I said earlier, part of the reasons why suffering brings so much pain is due to our limitedness and our inability to understand why we suffer. An understanding of the whyness of human suffering can actually bring some comfort and relief and help reduce the pain associated with suffering. This is so evident in the case of Job. From his dialogue with God, Job realized that suffering and adversity are not necessarily linked with being good or wicked. He realized that suffering could be a test of one’s faith. He realized that suffering that can also be redemptive. Job realized that the good suffer as well as the wicked. The realization of those facts brought healing to Job. He was healed from psychological pain; psychological pain which is pain within a pain caused by one’s inability to understand why he or she suffers. Let me state here that a comprehensive understanding of the reason, the purpose and the meaning of suffering does not make suffering a painless human experience. Knowing in detail why we suffer does not take away the discomfort, the disorder and sometimes the deformity of suffering entirely. But it can reduce the psychological pain, the absurdity and the feeling of loneness, loneliness and abandonment by God. In suffering, we can still feel that God is very near.   

Some believers believe that the expression “Why Lord?” is a question of doubt. But I contend it's rather an expression of faith in God posed in form of a question. The expression expresses and exposes the pain of the sufferer, and at the same time the person's desperate yearning for healing and solution. It is not a challenge to God. It's an attempt to comprehend the painful pain of suffering. It is first an expression of faith for it is only a believer that can address his or her worries to God. “Why Lord?” is a question that may not produce an instant satisfactory answer. But it essentially highlights trust in the Lord. It also underscores pains that prompt a question, a question seeking for comprehension. In the search for understanding lies a face-up to God who is the believer’s problem solver. Between the lines of the expression lies faith- faith in God.   

The expression “Why Lord” is also a form of prayer. Though the expression seeks for the meaning of suffering, but it is first an address to God.  Though it is a short expression, but it forms prayers and comes from prayers. Though it is an expression of discomfort, but it is also a longing for healing from the God of healing and miracle. “Why Lord?” is a cry and lamentation for healing. It's a short expression that catches and expresses a deep suffering. But it is not an empty expression of lost of hope, rather an expression of lamentation that is directed primarily to God. Unspeakable suffering is the reason for the question, but God is even the greater reason for the question. The omni-benevolence, omniscience and the omnipotence of God is the greater reason for the question. The question is fundamentally directed to God and not to the pain of suffering and disappointment. The brief expression sums up a believer’s longing for God’s intervention. God is seen as all powerful, all good God who loves and cares a lot for his children, so when an untold suffering which sometimes challenges the believer’s beliefs comes, he or she in trying to grapple the ugly situation turns to the all good God.

Some have argued that the expression “Why Lord?” indicates doubt or a loss of faith. But my position is that it is a profound expression of profound pain. The expression communicates the sufferer’s pain and hope in God. By turning to God, the sufferer seeks not only answers to suffering but also healing and relief. As I have said previously, it is a longing towards the God of host, the deliverer and healer of his people. It is a question directed to God because God is the creator and the Lord of the world. The question “Why Lord” is solely directed to God because only God can heal, restore and redeem.    

“Why Lord?” can move people to tears. It can trigger supplication from others. It can drive inquiry and research that aims at reducing or eradicating human suffering. Although human suffering can be redemptive, but that does not mean we should fold our hands and watch people languish in suffering. All efforts should be made to alleviate and reduce human suffering. “Why Lord?” can generate an active compassion for the one who suffers and incite a search for solution to human suffering. The question "why Lord" has less the tone of frustration and more of the tone of faith and dependence on God. The one who cries "why Lord" is a believer who is being ravaged in the world of suffering by suffering. In pain the sufferer seeks for the meaning of his or her suffering not from unbelievers or the world, but from the Lord of heaven and earth who created everything and knows everything. “Why Lord?” is a form of looking up to heaven from where help comes from. And may the one to whom that question is directed at bring healing and cure to his people who suffer. Amen!