“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.'” John 9:1–3 (NIV)

Something inside us—pride? control (an offshoot of pride)? a desire to find the answer so that we can find the solution (again, often a byproduct of pride)? a hope that we can prevent it from happening again, or to others, or to us (yup, also related to pride)?—needs to know why bad things happen. No, the motives aren’t always foundationally bad, but the answers aren’t always available in this lifetime on earth either.

Sometimes we have only one answer: “This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

And sometimes—no, always—in the end, that is enough.