Numbers 14:3
“Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to back to Egypt?”
As the Israelites approached the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, Moses sent out twelve spies to explore the land. After forty days they returned with a large bunch of grapes and reported to the people. Caleb and Joshua said they should go and take possession of the land, but the other ten spies said the people were too big and powerful and the cities well-fortified. The people listened to the ten spies and they wept and grumbled against Moses and Aaron. They questioned, “Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?” They forgot all the Lord’s provision for them over 40 years wandering in the desert: their clothes had not worn out and they had been provided with water, and manna and quails to eat every day without fail. They forgot too that this was the Promised Land, they had arrived at their destination, so their question was a foolish one.
Are we like the Israelites and asking “Why……?” in whatever situation we find ourselves in, and perhaps in the shared circumstances of this pandemic? “Why?” rarely gets an answer that will satisfy us. We can torment ourselves asking this question and thinking that we could bear things better if we understood why.
It’s better for our mental health to leave the “Why?” in God’s hands and to simply trust that He sees the whole picture. We have to accept that we may never know why, but God does. That sets us free to move on.