Why Doesn’t God? What to Do When God Doesn’t Answer Your Questions
Every believer has asked it. Maybe not out loud, but the question has formed in your heart: Why doesn’t God do something? Why didn’t God prevent this? Why does evil seem to go unchecked? You are not alone in asking, and the Book of Malachi speaks directly into this struggle.
Why Do We Ask “Where Is the God of Justice?”
In Malachi 2:17, God confronts the people of Israel with a striking accusation: “You have wearied the Lord with your words.” Their response? “How have we wearied Him?” And God answers: by saying that everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
Israel had drawn a dangerous conclusion. Because God had not judged the evil they could see around them, they assumed God must approve of it. They moved from questioning God’s actions to questioning God’s character.
This is a trap that is easy to fall into. When God does not act on our timetable, we can begin to assume He is indifferent, slow, or even approving of what is wrong.
What Is Theodicy and Why Does It Matter to Christians?
Theologians call this question “theodicy,” from the Greek words theo (God) and dike (justice). It is the question of how a good and just God can exist alongside evil and suffering.
This is not a new question. David wrestled with it in Psalm 73. Habakkuk asked it twice. Job lived it. R.T. Kendall has said that 100% of believers face this question at some point in their lives.
The problem for Israel was not that they asked the question. The problem was that their wondering led them to a false assumption about God’s character.
Is God Slow to Judge Evil?
Israel’s accusation was essentially that God was slow and soft when it came to dealing with sin. But the text in Malachi 3 pushes back on that idea with two important words: “suddenly” and “swift.”
“The Lord whom you are seeking will suddenly come to His temple.” (Malachi 3:1)
“Then I will come near to you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness.” (Malachi 3:5)
God’s timing is not our timing. But when God moves, He moves decisively. As Habakkuk 2:3 says, “Though it delays, wait for it. It will surely come. It will not delay.” God is never late. He is always right on time, even when that time does not match our expectations.
What to Do When God Doesn’t Answer or Act
Rather than trying to explain why God does or does not act in every situation, here are four anchors to hold onto when you are in that place of waiting and wondering.
1. Remember Who God Is
Israel’s question in Malachi 2:17 was not just about God’s inactivity. It was an assault on His character. “Where is the God of justice?” They were questioning who God is, not just what He was doing.
You may not know everything God is doing, but you know enough about who He is to trust Him through what you do not understand. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, holy, and just. As Solomon wrote, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)
What you know about God should be enough to sustain you through what you do not know.
2. Remember How God Works
God does not work on your schedule. As James Dobson wrote in When God Doesn’t Make Sense, God is not bound by the tyranny of the urgent. Paul reminds us in Galatians 4:4 that Christ was born “in the fullness of time.” God always acts at exactly the right moment.
Think of Mary and Martha at the tomb of Lazarus. Both sisters said the same thing to Jesus: “Lord, if You had been here…” (John 11). They felt the weight of His delay. But His timing was not a mistake. It was purposeful.
Your job, like Habakkuk’s, is to watch and wait. “I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the watchtower, and I will watch to see what He will say to me.” (Habakkuk 2:1)
3. Remember What God Is Doing
Malachi 3 gives us a vivid picture of what God is doing even when it does not feel like He is doing anything. He is refining and cleansing His people.
“He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver.” (Malachi 3:2-3)
Notice the word “sit.” The refiner does not walk away from the fire. Charles Spurgeon said a refiner is never far from the fire while his gold is in the furnace. God is close. He knows the temperature. He knows how long it takes.
The refining process continues until the smelter can see his own reflection in the silver. That is what God is doing in your life. He is allowing the fire so that His image becomes visible in you.
Sometimes when God does not remove the fire, He is using it. Sometimes when God does not change your circumstances, He is using your circumstances to change you. Instead of only asking God to get you out of it, ask Him what He wants you to get out of it.
James 1:2-4 puts it plainly: “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
The goal of all this refining and cleansing is found in verse 3: “so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.” God is making you more like Him so that your life becomes a pleasing offering.
4. Remember What God Will Do
Malachi 3:5 begins with the word “then.” After the refining, after the cleansing, God comes in judgment. He will be a swift witness against injustice, against corrupt worship, broken families, dishonest character, oppressive business practices, and neglect of the vulnerable.
There is coming a day when God will right every wrong. Every injustice will be addressed. Every sin will be judged. Every pain will be removed. God has not forgotten. He is not indifferent. He is coming.
And the answer God gives to the world’s injustice is found in the third messenger described in Malachi 3:1, the messenger of the covenant. That messenger is Jesus Christ. God’s answer to the unanswerable question is His Son.
“Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)
The Courage of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
When Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw three young men into the fire for refusing to worship his idol, their response was remarkable. They said God is able to save them. But even if He does not, they would not compromise their faith.
That is the posture God is calling us to. There is enough evidence of who God is to trust Him even when He does not do what we expect. Even if God does not answer the way you hoped, do not stop trusting Him.
Life Application
This week, identify one area of your life where you have been asking “Why doesn’t God?” Maybe it is a situation that feels unjust, a prayer that seems unanswered, or a circumstance that makes no sense. Instead of focusing on what God has not done, take time each day to write down or speak aloud what you know to be true about who God is.
Then ask yourself:
- Am I questioning God’s actions, or have I started questioning His character?
- Is it possible that God is using this situation to refine or cleanse something in me rather than simply remove the difficulty?
- What would it look like for me to say, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, “Even if He does not, I will still trust Him”?
God is not absent. He is not indifferent. He is sitting close to the fire, watching, refining, and working. His answer to the world’s deepest questions came in the person of Jesus Christ, and He is coming again to make all things right.
