Where Is God in All of This?

“Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”

— John 11:21

Martha’s words to Jesus echo a question asked by many throughout history: Where is God when bad things happen? In times of suffering—when we lose loved ones, face illness, experience tragedy, or watch the world around us unravel—we are left wondering: Why did God allow this?

This question is not new. It’s the age-old struggle with the presence of evil and suffering in a world created by a good God.

The Origin of Evil and Suffering

According to Scripture, evil entered the world through sin, beginning with Satan, followed by Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden (Romans 5:12). As a result, both moral evil (acts committed by people) and natural evil (disasters, disease, and death) now exist.

Moral evil includes violence, abuse, and hatred—outcomes of mankind’s failure to love God and one another. Natural evil includes the pain of illness, disaster, and loss, rooted in the fallen condition of creation itself (Genesis 3:17-19).

Why Doesn’t God Stop It?

The honest answer is tied to the concept of free will. God made us in His image (Genesis 1:26), and part of that image is the ability to choose. Without free will, we wouldn’t be truly human—we couldn’t genuinely love, trust, or obey God.

To eliminate evil, God would have to eliminate choice. But to preserve our humanity and give us the ability to glorify Him freely, He allows us to choose—and tragically, that means we sometimes choose sin.

Jesus Wept Too

God is not distant from our pain. In John 11, when Jesus saw Mary and the Jews weeping over Lazarus's death, He wept (John 11:35). Even though He knew He would raise Lazarus, He allowed Himself to feel the sorrow and brokenness of the moment.

This reveals something incredible: God does not stand apart from our pain. He enters into it with us.

“We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities...” — Hebrews 4:15

Jesus knows suffering—not just in theory, but through experience. He is with us in grief, just as He was with Mary and Martha.

The Cross Is God's Answer to Suffering

The story of the gospel is that God did not ignore the suffering of this world—He did something about it. He sent His Son to live among us, weep with us, die for us, and rise again.

Because of Christ, we have hope beyond this broken world. Death is not the end. Pain is not forever. One day, all will be restored:

“Death is swallowed up in victory… Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”— 1 Corinthians 15:54–57

Two Great Comforts

1. God shares our sorrows. He is not cold or removed—He walks beside us, weeping when we weep.

2. God acted to save us. Through Christ, we are offered healing, restoration, and eternal life in heaven.

When the world asks, “Where is God in all this?” the cross declares: He is right here—with us, for us, and working to redeem all things.