When Life Doesn't Make Sense: He Does

“So they read in the book of the law of God distinctly, and gave the

sense, and caused them to understand the reading.”

--Nehemiah 8:8

These days nothing made sense to Linda. It seemed like when she needed her friends and family the most, they had all walked away causing her to feel very lonely. As she stood there in her kitchen alone, the tears began to roll from her eyes, she thought: when Lord? When would she feel “happy,” when would the pain of a broken heart go, when would she finally make the money she worked so hard to earn, when? The answers weren’t coming fast enough for Linda. Her money was running low, yet her bills were growing exponentially. Her boyfriend of five years, she wasn’t talking about marriage, and she didn’t understand. Her mom was in hospital suffering from cancer and even though she prayed for healing, healing couldn’t come fast enough. She cried, “Lord this doesn’t make any sense!”

Perhaps we can relate to Linda, where life just doesn’t seem to make sense. In fact we wonder when and if it will ever change. We search high and low, looking for answers to what seem like impossible situations, situations that we just can’t simply overcome in our own strength. In those moments, God wants to remind us that all the sense we need is hidden in His word.

Here in the book of Nehemiah, the prophet Ezra read God’s word to the people. Why? Because they were troubled, their lives were broken and were in need of much repair. Ezra’s response to their condition was the healing power of God’s word. In fact the scripture records that he gave the “sense” to the people. The “sense?” What’s that? Well that’s God’s word, for in the word of God we find true wisdom and judgment.

In other words, when we want to know answers, when we want direction, or when we want to make sense of things, we must turn to God’s word, for in His word, we will find love, joy, peace, answers, solutions, and remedies. That’s right, all the sense we need to make in life is found in God—there simply isn’t another way. Like the people of Israel, when we read and hear God’s word, not only will our eyes be opened, helping us to make sense of a dismal world, but we’ll be able to understand why we face some of the things we face. It’s not always easy to make sense of what we may deem as senseless, but God knows and He promised, that all things would make sense in time, if we yield ourselves to Him completely.

So let us allow God to make sense out of what doesn’t seem to make sense: read His word and apply it today!