Because I said so!

Did you ever say that to your kids?

I did!

But not as often as my mom said it to me!

Back in the day:

Me: Why???

My mom: Because I said so.

Me: But WHY!?!?!

My Mom: Because I said so and don't use that tone of voice with me!!!

 

Me with my kids:

My Kids: Why???

 

Me: Because...explanation given.

 

My Kids: But that's not fair!!!

 

Me: Tries to explain in a different way.

 

My Kids: That's stupid! Everyone else gets to...whatever...why can't I???

 

Me: Because I'm not everyone else's mother and I said no!

 

My Kids: WHY!?!?!

 

Me: Because I said so and this conversation is over!

My mom was right.

And honestly, sometimes she gave an explanation up front,

but if she didn't and I asked...

And even if she did,

I usually disagreed!

And if I disagreed,

it usually was at the expense of other things I wanted to do and lost the privilege 

for using my mouth in a way it shouldn't have been used!

 

Both methods, hers and mine,

resulted in the same conclusion -

the kids didn't understand and went away unhappy!

Even with an explanation,

the kids did NOT understand

or accept it as reasonable!

 

Sometimes I'm still the kid!!!

I still want to know why!

 

My Lanny Love and I are currently facilitating another GriefShare 

and this past week we discussed "why?"

Never more than when bad things happen -

and the loss of someone we love feels really, really bad -

we want to know why.

Particularly, I think, when the loss is a spouse, child, or unexpected.

In GriefShare, we are reminded that 

God's ways are far above our ways. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

 

and asked, 

 

Where were you when I created the universe?

Tell me if you know so much! (Job 38:4).

 

We are further reminded that

even if God told us why,

we wouldn't understand or accept the explanation

because...

well, because we want our way and our way would be

for our loved one(s) to still be physically present in our lives.

 

GriefShare is right.

No explanation would have been sufficient

to explain my Al's illness and death.

I still would have wanted him here with me!

I still would have wanted to share my meals and my bed,

    my thoughts and feelings,

        my sorrows and joys,

            with him! 

This morning, in Sunday School, 

we were discussing Elijah the Prophet.

In I Kings 18, we read the story of the Baal worshippers

versus the God worshippers.

 

The prophets of Baal prayed and prayed

to the point of cutting themselves

trying to bring fire down from their gods

onto the altar build for them. 

 

 

 

 

When Elijah's turn came,

he had everything wet down!

They wet down the sacrifice,

they wet down the altar,

they dug a moat around it and filled it with water.

Everything was drenched!

Then he prayed,

and fire fell from heaven onto the altar

consuming the sacrifice,

the water,

even the rocks from which the altar was built!

It was a rousing success for God and for Elijah!!!

But the Queen, Jezebel, the main Baal worshipper,

she was ticked off!!!

And she swore to Elijah that he would pay with his life!

So he ran!

And when he finally dropped from exhaustion, hunger, and thirst,

he cried out to God, 

"WHY???? 

I did all you asked! 

And here I am, 

fleeing for my life!!! 

Just kill me now and be done with it!!!"

(I Kings 19:4b, Gina paraphrase)

Right here, our Sunday School teacher said a profound thing.

"And God said 'Because I said so!'"

And there it is!

The ultimate Parent,

The Father of fathers and mothers and children,

did not offer an explanation.

Because Elijah would still not have understood.

He would not have accepted it.

But through this, he learned something really important.

Sometimes we understand God's movements,

and sometimes we don't,

but always we can trust that He knows what He is doing,

that He has our best interest at heart!

 

And he lay down and slept under a broom tree.

And behold, an angel touched him and said to him,

"Arise and eat."

And he looked, and behold,

there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones

and a jar of water.

And he ate and drank and lay down again.

And the angel of the Lord came again a second time

and touched him and said,

"Arise and eat,

for the journey is too great for you."

And he arose and ate and drank,

and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights...

 

~~ I Kings 19:5-8 ESV

 

Because He said so...