More heartbreaking news. Another terrorist attack. Another fatal car accident. Another body found in a dumpster. Another miscarriage. Another cancer diagnosis. My heart grows weary at the weight of all the sorrow. It’s no surprise the world asks, If God is good, how could He allow such things to happen?
We put God on trial every time we question His goodness. We bring charges against Him. We assume He is guilty unless He can prove Himself innocent. Too often we render a verdict without considering any evidence that doesn’t match our preconceived ideas.
In a courtroom, a witness is someone who is called on to give their testimony, the report of what they saw and heard, which is used as evidence in order to determine the truth.
Jesus came into a world with just as many sorrows as ours. He said the reason He came was “to bring Good News to the poor… to proclaim that captives would be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come” (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus brought His message of hope to people in terrible situations. And He provided evidence by His miracles that this too-good-to-be-true news was really true. Because He did the kinds of things only God could do, many people who witnessed them believed He came from God. That He was the Son of God who revealed the Father’s heart.
Exhibit A: The healing of a man who was born blind. The disciples wanted to know, “Why was this man born blind? Was it a result of his own sins or those of his parents?” (John 9:1-2) It’s obvious his blindness is a punishment. We just want to know whose sins are being punished.
And Jesus responded, You’ve got it all wrong. This terrible thing isn’t a punishment at all – “He was born blind so the power of God could be seen in him” (John 9:3). The man’s suffering had a purpose – he had been chosen to reveal the power of God. His healing became evidence that Jesus was the Son of God. After he was healed, he even gave testimony before the Pharisees (John 9:15).
Exhibit B: The death of Lazarus. Lazarus was a dear friend of Jesus. When he got sick, his family reached out, hoping Jesus would come and heal him. “Although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days and did not go to them” (John 11:5). They were in a desperate situation. Jesus loved them. But He did not go to them. And so Lazarus died. How does this make any sense? The answer is here: “For your sake I am glad I wasn’t there, because this will give you another opportunity to believe in me” (John 11:15). It was for their sake so that they would believe.
Jesus was about to provide more evidence of the power and heart of God. When Jesus reached Lazarus’ tomb, He wept. He wept over all the hurt that death has caused in the world, the damage it has done, the ways it has poisoned the good that God intended for His beloveds from the very beginning. When terrible things happen, be comforted to know that God weeps over our trauma and our agony.
God’s ultimate goal isn’t physical healing. He knows there are more important things than restoring a physical body. The point is to reach the heart. Everything God does, everything that God allows, is so that we will believe the truth, so that our hearts will be drawn into an intimate relationship with Him. When the weight of sorrow is too much to bear, we fall to our knees.
It was in the desperate situations that Jesus provided the evidence that God does not desire to hurt us (Lamentations 3:33). Without the blindness, there wouldn’t have been the miracle of sight. Without the sickness, no healing. Without death, no resurrection.
The evidence, the witnesses, and the testimonies all point to the truth – that God is good and that He loves us. This must be our verdict whenever our doubts put God on trial. Every time terrible news arrives, we remember it isn’t the end of the story. There is hope – Jesus still brings the power and heart of God into broken circumstances with the desire and ability to restore, redeem, and make whole. When we allow Him to, we become the witnesses. We have a testimony. We are the evidence.