Where is God when things have gone awry, when it seems that evil trumps the good, when bad things happen to “good” people?  I often ponder that question whenever there is a disaster or something evil befalls innocent people.  Especially as it relates to innocent children.  But I don’t ponder the question looking for an answer, at least not anymore.  There is never a satisfactory answer for everyone to that question.  We can theologize about it, theorize about it, and politicize it, but the reality is still the same.  Recently, in a town nearby, there were 12 people killed, and many others wounded in another senseless attack on young people who were out living life and enjoying themselves.  My first thought is that they did nothing to bring this upon themselves.  My second thought is that we cannot explain evil.  And third, where do the people affected think God is in the midst of this? If they think about it at all.  There are times when many believers and non-believers alike will ask this same question: Where is God in this?  So where is God in this, and in numerous other tragic and evil things that befall us personally, and those around us in the world we live in?

Oftentimes the standard Christian answer to this question goes something like this, “well, we live in a fallen world…” As true as that may be, it still does not answer to the personal grief, pain, and suffering felt among those affected.  There may never be a satisfactory answer, especially in the moment.  But I believe there is an answer to the question “Where is God?” in these times.  There is one particular place in scripture where Jesus lost a good friend named Lazarus to a terminal illness (John 11).  Lazarus’s sisters Mary and Martha had previously summoned Jesus to come while Lazarus was still alive.  Keep in mind the text says that Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus; They were His friends.  But He waited 2 more days in the place where He was after He was summoned to come.  Leading up to this point in the Book of John, Jesus had performed many miracles, not the least of which were miracles of healing.  Knowing this, Mary and Martha probably sent for Jesus with a sense of urgency, believing He could heal the friend He loved before it was too late.  But He waited.  And Lazarus died.  When He finally approached the town, He was confronted first by Martha, and then Mary with the same comment, “Lord if You would have been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21,11:32).  How often have we felt the same sentiment, especially Christians who abide daily and walk closely with the Savior?  In our grief and pain we cry out, “Where were/are you?”

Jesus had predicted in John 11:4 that this was not a “sickness unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” And before Jesus left where He was with the disciples, He told them plainly that Lazarus had already died, so that they (the disciples) would “believe”. The Son of God knew something that the others didn’t.  God was going to use this event in their lives to demonstrate His power, His authority, His sovereignty, and to bring glory to the Son of God.   After encountering Mary with the same “if you’d been here” comment, and seeing her and the others weeping, scripture says that Jesus “groaned in the spirit” and “was troubled”.  Most commentators agree that this is a mild way of saying Jesus was “indignant/angry”.  But what happens next is very telling of how God responds when we are in pain…He wept.  What happens to be the shortest verse in the Bible is also one of the most powerful as it relates to human pain and suffering.

Why would He weep and be deeply troubled in spirit?  After all, He is God!   He knew Lazarus would be resurrected from the dead.  He also knew this would further glorify Him and accomplish the purposes of the Father.  One could imagine Him showing up in all His splendor and majesty and making everything ok.  But He wept, while people questioned why He couldn’t prevent Lazarus from dying (11:37).  Maybe He wept because He felt their pain…The son of God, who would soon take their sins upon Himself, was taking their pain upon Himself at that moment.  Or maybe He wept because of their lack of faith in Him.   And could it be that He was indignant and deeply troubled in spirit because He knew the toll that death and the enemy of the human soul has taken on mankind, and it needed to be defeated?

So, where is God in our times of grief, pain and suffering?  The answer: He is right here, and as it were, weeping with us.  But not weeping as a hopeless person weeps, but weeping as a Father would with those He loves.  Jesus, the Son of God, the One who emptied Himself for the sake of mankind, and who made Himself of “no reputation” (Philippians 2:7), and who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3), walks with those who He loves and calls His own.  The now resurrected and exalted Christ, sees the bigger picture, the larger story.  It’s His story, integrating with ours.  Jesus knew what the disciples, Mary, and Martha didn’t know: what seemed to be a hopeless situation in Lazarus’ death would become an exclamation point of God’s presence and power.   Martha, in her limited understanding and short sighted view, couldn’t see the answer in front of her.  Her hope was that “in the resurrection on the last day” (John 11:24) she would again be reunited with her brother.  Credit to Martha for a faith filled posture based on her belief in scripture.  But she was seeing right past the answer in front of her until Jesus pointed it out in His statement, “I AM the resurrection and the life”.   And here is where our answer is found – In Christ alone.  Not just in what He can do, or in what He can prevent, or in what He can provide.  I submit that this is where we, like Martha, often see past the answer in front of us.  In our urgency to find a solution to fix our situation, we miss the beating heart of the Savior who is present in our midst, and who is wholly sufficient in our every circumstance.

Trusting Him doesn’t guarantee everything will be ok and doesn’t promise that we will get the answers we want.  Evil is still prevalent, bad things will happen, and the truth is we are not in control as much as we think we are.  In all of our chasing around and grasping for solutions, the answer so to speak is in the room.  In Christ, we have all we need.  Scripture declares that He is the icon of the invisible God, preeminent over all of creation and that IN Him dwells all the FULLNESS of the Godhead in bodily form (Colossians 2).  We need not look any farther than Christ, the One in whom every believer has every spiritual blessing bestowed (Ephesians 1), and those who put their trust in Him are made complete (Colossians 2:10).  There is simply nothing we can add to what He has already done.

So when I find myself facing inexplicable challenges in and around my life, desperately scrambling for answers and solutions, I am reminded that the answer is looking at me, and He sees me with His loving and kind heart.  Nothing escapes His notice and nothing is beyond His control.  Even when I don’t understand, I can rest in the knowledge that Christ is, and will always be sufficient.