Why Would God Let This Happen To Me?

She was everything I had in the world, Cyndi. I-I-- can't... nhuh... can't...
God told me she was the one... the only one I... nhnnn... I'd ever love and be with and--
Why would God let this happen to me?
...I mean her.

- American Virgin #2

by Steven T. Seagle and Becky Cloonan

Ever have something in life that seemed blessed by God, maybe you even knew, just knew, it was God's will, and then all of a sudden it's ripped away from you?

And you're like, "God, what the crap?"

WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU DOING?!

I think we've all been there at some point. We had a good thing going and it abruptly ends and we can't understand why God would let such a thing happen. Surely God wouldn't build us up only to let us fall.

Well, God does have a history of doing that.

Take Abraham. God promised him an unlikely son and delivered on that promise, greatly blessing Abraham. And then God told Abraham to kill Isaac. Sure, Abraham was stopped before he went through with it, but that long walk up the mountain must have been pretty dark for him.

And what about Job? Job had it all. Then God lets Satan take that all away from Job. Why? For some sort of cosmic bet? The story is never really clear on why God allowed it all to happen. It even gets to the point where Job confronts God directly and demands an explanation.

God basically replies, "I'm God. Who the crap are you to question me?"

Again, in the end, Job comes out greatly blessed by God. But the bulk of Job is about how miserable the man is during this difficult time. Maybe in retrospect it was worth it all to get that eventual blessing, but at the time it sure must have sucked.

When I cry out to God in my despair, all I hear in reply is silence. Maybe if I just hold on, an even better blessing than what I've lost will come down the line.

But honestly, sometimes, I think I'd rather just have an explanation.