Yesterday, the floor dropped. Today come the questions.
Why this? Why now? Why me — or why them? You pray, and no answers come. Then someone who means well tells you everything happens for a reason, and you have to walk out of the room.
The Misconception: Faith Means Understanding
Here's a belief a lot of strong Christians carry without ever saying it out loud: if my faith were strong enough, I'd understand what God is doing. So when we can't make sense of something, we don't just hurt. We start to suspect our faith is failing.
But Scripture never ties faith to explanation. Hebrews 11 is full of people who were "still living by faith when they died" without receiving the things promised. Job never got a full answer for his suffering — he got God Himself. And Jesus, on the cross, prayed the opening line of Psalm 22: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Asking why isn't a lack of faith. Needing the answer before you'll trust Him — that's where things go sideways.
What Cade Thompson Does Know
"I Know I'm Loved" is built on one brave move. Cade Thompson spends the opening of the song listing what he doesn't know: why bad things happen, why hearts break, how any of this is going to work out. He admits he's afraid. He admits he gets lonely even when he knows he isn't alone.
Then he plants his feet. He doesn't know a lot — but he knows he's loved. He knows he's held by a Savior who calls him enough. And he names the evidence: the cross is the proof.
The Proof Was Never Your Circumstances
That's exactly where Paul puts the evidence too. Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Notice what Paul doesn't point to. Not your health. Not your bank account. Not whether this week went well. The demonstration of God's love already happened — at a specific place, on a specific day, in a specific body.
Which means your circumstances were never the proof of His love. If they were, every bad phone call would be evidence against Him. The cross settled whether you're loved long before this ever happened.
Praise With the Questions Still Open
So what do you do with the questions? You don't have to bury them. You just stop letting them be the loudest thing in the room. You can say, honestly: I don't know why. But I know I'm loved. That's not a cop-out. It's the most solid ground there is.
This is Chapter Two of DRY GROUND. Catch up on Chapter One, or come back tomorrow for Chapter Three — and a harder truth about deep water.
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