Never doubt the goodness of God

"The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities impressed with it." --James Madison

Terrorism shows us that evil exists. But looking to Jesus' example, we never lose our confidence in the goodness, grace, and mercy of God. John Piper writes:

Never, never did he doubt the goodness or power of his Father while confronting
the worst evils in the universe. And this did not make him “inhuman.” It made
him perfectly human. His combination of compassion for people and confidence in
God is the call on our lives for how to respond to suffering. It is unthinkable
that Jesus would make doubt in his Father the test of compassion for suffering
Russians.
Never did he teach us, or even hint, that we should doubt the
reality of God’s goodness and power when facing unspeakable evil. When people
confronted him with the slaughter of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled
with their sacrifices, he spoke very differently from the Archbishop: “He
answered them, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all
the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but
unless you repent, you will all likewise perish’” (Luke 13:2-3).
For those
who are saturated and shaped by all the words and ways of Jesus, not only does
horrific evil today not bring doubt of God, it does not even bring surprise.
Jesus labored to help us be ready for the worst of evils, even Islamic
terrorists. He taught us that there would be “terrors” (an amazingly relevant
word for what “terrorists” cause—Luke 21:11). He said that there would be
terrible famines and plagues. Betrayal would become common and even parents
would hand over children, “and some of you they will put to death” (Luke 21:16).
People will be “fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the
world” (Luke 21:28). And, perhaps most relevant of all in this day of religious
terrorism, Jesus said, “The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he
is offering service to God” (John 16:2).
But in spite of all this evil and
suffering, Jesus did not even remotely suggest that we should have a flicker of
doubt toward the goodness and sovereignty of God, or that somehow it would be
less humane to hold fast to God with unshakable hope and undoubting faith.
Rather Jesus did the opposite. He strove to help us maintain faith in the face
of horrifying evil: “When you see these things taking place, you know that the
kingdom of God is near” (Luke 21:31). This is not the suggestion of doubt, but
the certainty of hope. Again he says that when you see these unspeakable evils
happening around you, you should “raise your heads, because your redemption is
drawing near” (Luke 21:38). This is not a time for weakening faith, but
unwavering hope.
The gift that followers of Christ bring to the suffering
world is not the empathy of doubt, but the power of hope. We do not join the
world in their anger at God or their questioning of his existence or justice or
mercy. The very thing that survivors of suffering need most is hope in God
through Jesus Christ. This will not be given by those who make its uncertainty
the measure of our compassion. It is unbiblical and unmerciful to say that what
suffering people need most must be doubted in order to prove our love for them.