The Mystery of Trust: Why We Should Not Ask God “Why?”, “For What?”, “When?”,or “How?”

In every person’s life come moments of pain, trial, confusion, and fear. When troubles weigh us down, when we see our own suffering or that of those we love, the mind begins to struggle: “Why, Lord, is this happening to me? Why do You allow so much suffering in the world? When will this end? How will I endure?”

These questions seem natural to the human heart, but according to the teaching of Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers, they conceal a subtle spiritual danger: a hidden lack of trust in the providence of God.

1. Man Between Faith and Reason

God endowed man with reason, but also with faith. Reason helps us understand creation, while faith unites us to the Creator. When man tries to grasp the mysteries of God only through his intellect, without humility, he falls into turmoil.

Saint Isaac the Syrian said:

“Whoever wishes to search out the judgments of God with his own mind has lost himself in an unfathomable ocean.”

Reason, therefore, must be illumined by faith. We are not called to understand everything, but to entrust ourselves to the One who knows all things.

2. The Root of the Question “Why?”

When man asks “Why?”, he seeks a human justification for a divine act. Yet, God’s judgments are not like human judgments.

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)

Therefore, when we suffer, we should not rush to find a reason, but humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.

The Fathers teach that every trial hides within it a work of grace. Saint John Chrysostom, who was unjustly exiled and tormented, always said:

“Glory to God for all things!”

These words were not mere rhetoric but the expression of a heart that understood that nothing happens without divine purpose, even when that purpose remains unseen.

3. Trials — Hidden Gifts

Saint Anthony the Great said:

“No one will enter the Kingdom of Heaven without temptations.”

Trials and sufferings are, in truth, spiritual schools through which man is purified, humbled, and united to God. But the modern person, impatient and comfort-loving, cannot bear pain and wants everything explained. Thus he asks: “For what, Lord?” Yet the spiritual man does not ask “for what,” but says: “Lord, help me pass through this with patience and faith.”

Saint Paisios the Athonite teaches:

“When a man says, ‘Why, Lord?’, it is as if he is saying, ‘You have judged wrongly, Lord!’ But when he says, ‘Glory to You, Lord!’, he receives the peace of grace.”

The question “Why?” disturbs the soul; thanksgiving restores peace.

4. When and How — Tempting God

Many believers, reading the Apocalypse or the prophecies, ask: “When will these things happen? How will we endure? What will we do?”

But the Lord said clearly:

“It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has placed in His own authority.” (Acts 1:7)

When we try to calculate the times, we lose peace and weaken in faith. Christ did not command us to ask “when,” but to be ready at any moment:

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:13)

Saint Theophan the Recluse wrote:

“He who wishes to know when the end will come should first learn the end of sin within his own heart.”

The time of salvation is not in the future — it is now.

5. The Mystery of Silence and Trust

The desert fathers and Athonite saints often spoke about spiritual silence — the stillness in which the soul stops questioning and begins listening.

An elder from Mount Athos once said:

“When you stop asking God ‘why,’ that is when God begins to speak to your heart.”

In the silence of faith, the soul perceives what the mind cannot grasp. When man is silent, grace begins to work.

Saint Silouan the Athonite wrote:

“God reveals Himself to the humble and loving soul, not to the one who questions in doubt. If you do not understand a trial, endure and pray — God will enlighten you in His own time.”

This “time” is not chronological time, but the moment when the heart is ready to receive the answer.

6. Faith That Does Not Demand Explanations

True faith is not shown when all goes well, but when everything collapses — and yet the heart still says: “Thy will be done.”

That was Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane:

“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39)

This is the measure of perfect faith — not to ask “why,” but to say “Thy will be done.”

Saint Nicholas Velimirovich wrote:

“He who constantly asks ‘why?’ has not yet tasted the sweetness of trusting God.”

Faith does not seek explanations — it rests in divine love.

7. The Mystery of the Unknown and Patience

Modern man fears the unknown. He wants certainty, data, plans, and answers. Yet God reveals Himself in mystery, not in control.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa wrote:

“The knowledge of God is an ascent into the unknown.”

God calls us to walk into the darkness of faith, where we cannot see but we can feel His presence.

When we pray, “Lord, why don’t You answer?”, we should remember that God always hears, but answers differently than we expect, and in His own time.

Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia said:

“Pray without asking ‘why’ or ‘when.’ God knows. Say only, ‘Lord, Thy will be done — but give me patience and peace.’”

8. God’s Answer Comes in Stillness

Often, God does not respond with words but with presence.

When the Prophet Elijah hid in the cave, God was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but “in a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:12)

So too, God works in our lives — silently, gently, invisibly. When we stop asking, we begin to hear.

9. How the Prayer of the Heart Teaches Silence

The hesychast Fathers — from Saint Gregory Palamas to the modern Athonite saints — taught the prayer:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

This simple prayer teaches the soul to stop questioning and to entrust itself to God. It shifts the focus from “why” to “Who” — from seeking explanations to seeking the One who is the Truth.

Saint Sophrony of Essex said:

“He who prays purely no longer needs to ask ‘why,’ for his heart feels that everything rests in the loving hands of God.”

10. True Freedom — Complete Trust

When man gives up the questions “why” and “when,” he becomes truly free. He is no longer enslaved by fear or doubt.

The saints did not have fewer sufferings than we do — they simply lived them differently, with full trust in God.

Saint Paisios said:

“When you no longer ask ‘why,’ but say, ‘Glory to You, Lord!’, then the devil has no power over you.”

That is the secret of victory: to receive everything from God’s hand with peace.

Conclusion: Faith That Is Silent and Loving

God does not ask us to understand everything — only to love Him in all things. The questions “Why?”, “When?”, and “How?” are the voice of a restless mind. The answer is one: “Thy will be done.”

When a person truly says these words, heaven and earth meet in peace. Then trial becomes blessing, suffering becomes a path to light, and the unknown becomes a place of meeting with God.

Saint Silouan the Athonite sums it up in one sentence:

“Keep your mind in hell and despair not.”

This is the deepest form of trust — for when all seems lost and you still hope in God, you are truly alive.

“Faith does not question — it adores.”

This is the way of the Fathers, the saints, and all who have loved God more than their own understanding.