Whose fault is it?

John 9:1-7

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
⁶ After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷ “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

The number one question asked of ministers and Bible scholars is something similar to this, "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?"  Do you have an answer? While there have been answers given to that question by some very intelligent scholars, I hope we can understand there are some of those situations which seem to have no answer. 

For the person who is not close to God or accustomed to his ways, the question is always perplexing. I have known of those whose lives have been centered around alcoholism and drug addiction, and when having to face jail time, try to put the blame for their problems on God. Why did he let this happen to me?

That brings us to one answer for the question at hand. Bad things happen to us because of our own choices and lifestyle which is contrary to that for which we were designed. Many of our troubles which we blame on God, are really our fault. 

In the story above, Jesus and his disciples encountered a man who was born blind. Notice, it was the disciples that questioned Jesus about whose sin had brought about the man's blindness, his or his parents?  The disciples' thinking was a lot like ours. If this man is blind, it must mean that God is getting even with either this man or his parents for some huge sin in their lives.  Jesus set them straight and probably surprised everyone involved when he told them the man isn't blind because of his or his parent's sin.  The real reason he is suffering from blindness is so the works of God could be displayed in him. After saying that, Jesus healed the man. 

I do not have all the answers concerning human suffering, and especially why some families seem to have more suffering than others. I do know this....Whatever bad thing has brought about suffering in your life, caused by sin or any number or reasons, or no detectable reason at all, our hearts must continue to be inclined toward God and his way of dealing with these things.  The joy of suffering in this life is seen in God's willingness to use our suffering to display his love for us, his willingness to make us whole again, and above all, a witness of the good things God can bring about in our broken lives. 

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