Trusting God When Your Suffering Is Nobody’s Fault
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
John 9:1–3
Eighteen years ago, my wife and I were standing in the kitchen of the old farmhouse we planned to renovate. She said, with tears streaming down her face, “What did I do wrong? Was it something I ate during my pregnancy? Or was it something I failed to eat? Is God punishing our daughter for something I’ve done? Am I the reason our precious little Kayte was born deaf?”
As I held my wife, her heart did not agonize alone. I was also asking questions, though only inwardly: “Lord, I’ve given my whole life to your service and been willing to sacrifice everything earthly. Is that not good enough? What more must I do to earn your favor? Is it my fault our daughter is cognitively disabled? Are you angry at me?”
Let me be clear. My wife and I would never choose a different life. We are grateful to the Lord for creating four of our ten children with hearing impairments. It’s now hard for us to imagine life without the blessings of disability. But as we’ve walked this journey for more than three decades, there have been times when, in our weakness, we’ve struggled with doubts like anyone else. Perhaps you’ve asked similar questions in the face of your suffering.[1]
When unexpected trials arrive on your doorstep, you may be tempted to blame someone—that is, to make a direct connection between specific wrongdoing and specific consequences. The disciples certainly succumbed to that temptation. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” The Bible does teach that there are consequences to sin and that all of life’s griefs trickle down from mankind’s original sin (see Gen. 3:14–19). However, there is not always a direct cause-and-effect relationship between specific affliction and specific sin. Jesus makes this clear.
The disciples were more concerned about figuring out whose sin caused this man’s disability than they were with learning how to minister with compassion. To the disciples, the blind man was a problem to be solved. To Jesus, he was a person to be loved. But Jesus surprises them when he reveals a higher purpose. The disability wasn’t the blind man’s fault or the fault of his parents: he was blind by God’s design. It was so “that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Clearly, the governing force behind the suffering this man and his parents endured was not any one person’s sin but God’s larger agenda to display his powerful work and the glory of his grace. This man was born blind on purpose—that is, according to the purposes of God. We must not miss this!
When Jesus opens the blind man’s eyes, the physical healing isn’t the most important part of the story. Jesus goes beyond opening his physical eyes; he opens his spiritual eyes as well. The blind man becomes a Christ-follower; he is saved. Jesus healed his greatest disability: the blindness of his heart (see John 9:35–37).
God’s ways are higher than our ways (see Isa. 55:9). Rarely do we recognize his purpose for our suffering. But, at a minimum, we know this: Suffering is a God-ordained means of displaying his wisdom and power. It’s his way of shifting our earthbound focus from temporal comforts to what is infinitely more valuable in light of eternity—knowing Jesus.
- TALK TO YOURSELF. Why do you think the default human response to suffering is to pin the blame on ourselves or someone else? Do you ever respond this way? If so, what does your response reveal about your view of God’s character and providence?
- TALK TO GOD. Pray through Psalm 16.
- TALK TO OTHERS. Make a “Works of God” page or two in your journal. Begin recounting the works of the Lord that you see in your life because of suffering. Share a few of these with a friend in Christ.
*This article is a chapter excerpt from Remade: Embracing Your Complete Identity in Christ
[1] I explore this and related themes in depth with Joni Eareckson Tada in our book, When Disability Hits Home: How God Magnifies His Grace in Our Weakness and Suffering (Wapwallopen, PA: Shepherd Press, 2020).
