“Why Me?” to Declaring “Why Not Me?”

Most of the unfortunate things that happen to us leave us asking the question ‘Why me?’

I am yet to meet anyone who hasn’t asked this question at some point in their life.

The world is filled with ups and downs, pain and suffering, lack and uncertainty, evil and hostility.

Things happen to us, and most times, we question if there is a God in heaven who listens and cares.

People are being driven out of their homeland, killed, butchered, and often left amputated. They are forced to flee their homes, ending up on the streets with nowhere to go, hoping they won’t be killed.

A young man loses his job to a rich man’s son due to favors going on behind the scenes.

A young lady is struggling to survive and is then offered the option of selling her body to provide for her brother and sick mother. One night, she contracts HIV/AIDS.

A mother is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and is left to envision the life her kids will have without her. She thinks about them every day and wonders how they’ll survive. Unable to leave her kids in the hands of their abusive and drunken father.

A budding tennis player with tremendous promise suddenly has a massive heart attack while holding a class on tennis, necessitating a quadruple bypass surgery. His lifestyle and career, as he knows it, are over.

Why do I have a rubbish job?

Why is my relationship not working?

Why did I lose my phone?

Why is my family so difficult?

Why am I sick?

Why do people treat me poorly?

Why did my car break down?

Why didn’t I get that job?

Why do I have financial worries?

Why is my life so difficult?

Why, why, why!

Life isn’t fair, and we know it.

Often, it’s only in our dark moments that we truly ask, ‘Why me?’ We may ponder about it during good times too, but this contemplation differs from when we are down.

We don’t whinge when the weather is sunny and pleasant. We may exclaim, but we don’t complain. Deep in our hearts, we believe that we deserve the good things in life and that we have earned them.

The truth is the world may never get better, and things may keep getting worse. Not to be a prophet of doom, but for many ages past, the world has only worsened with poverty, diseases, war, and evil.

While we may not entirely have the power to change the things that happen in the universe, we have the power to change situations for ourselves, pull ourselves out of misery, and keep pushing forward.

Why don’t we look at the bright side?

Why Not You?

Of the 8 billion people on Earth, I think it’s pretty likely that others are also experiencing grief, sadness, and financial worries at the same second as we are.

I’m certain that millions go through tough relationships, health problems, breakups, and job losses.

I’m not saying that experiencing these things is not difficult, I’m not belittling your problems or trivializing the pain that life brings.

What I’m saying is that they also bring them to me, and the next person and the next and the next and the next.

No one is above pain. But we can take our pain and turn it into the drive that pushes us to make our situations just a little better.

What do I mean?

It is usually easier to wallow in self-pity and seek the world’s sympathy to feel a little sense of importance. But wouldn’t it be better to channel all our energy into positive opportunities capable of changing our lives and experiences for the better?

If unbelievers can succeed and reach the top, why not you? If others can excel and learn even amidst difficulties, why not you?

Besides, you have a living God by your side. God can turn your situation around. There is nothing He cannot do; no situation is too hard or impossible.

Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.

Jeremiah 32:17

You can make things better in tough times by praying, meditating, and expressing your faith positively.

When someone tells you, ‘That’s impossible, your situation can’t change’, get excited; that’s an opportunity for you to put your faith to work and change things.

When you sense deep within that a moment for change has arrived, treat it seriously.

Daniel experienced this when he prayed for God’s people’s deliverance. Having read in Jeremiah that Israel’s freedom would follow seventy years in exile, he recognized the time had arrived and earnestly began to pray.

Sometimes the things we desire may not come to us immediately. The changes we desire for our lives may not come to us immediately either, but we shouldn’t let ‘Why me’ become the new normal.

Instead, let’s strive for ‘Why not me’ and see things take a turn for the better.