Free Will and The Light

It seems to me in our attempt to worship God, we sometimes think of Him as Sovereign in a twisted way, almost like a dictator with absolute power, micro managing everything and every detail of the world. But that would be a world without free will, a world we humans didn't choose (I suspect humans, angels, demons, and creatures have varied degrees of free will and arguably nature itself). This means troubles will come for not all use free will for good or in a way that doesn't have lasting negative consequences. There is a world of variables. There are good things and bad things. There is a war between light and darkness.

In a general sense the troubles of the world can be traced directly to the fall. Freely and willfully humans have time and again chosen the darkness over the light plunging the world deeper and deeper into dispair, driving us further and further east of Eden. However, this does not mean every single suffering is somehow an act of divine judgment. In the gospel of John Jesus's disciples ask Him why a man was blind: 

"And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:3 ESV)

Rather than the suffering being a symbol of judgement it was to be a symbol of redemption. Jesus goes on in that passage to speak of how He was the light of the world. He also miraculously heals the man. It reminds me of that line in the hymn Amazing Grace that says "I was blind, but now I see." Perhaps it wasn't just the blind man he was healing that day because that whole passage itself is an eye opener.