If we are to correctly understand the doctrines of the Bible, understanding the sovereignty of God is of critical importance. Simply stated, this means that God is Omniscient1 (knows everything), Omnipotent2 (has all power), and directs everything according to the ultimate ends that He has. The question that comes up, given the foregoing, is "if God is in control, why do bad things happen?" Inherent in this question is the assumption that God would never let bad things happen. It is often shorthand for the statement "If I were God, I wouldn't let bad things happen, therefore there is no God."
First, all bad things are the consequence of sin. That is on us, not God. God created everything good.3 We messed it up. Second, our view of God is too small if we think that somehow there is a conflict between bad things happening and the fact that His will must be done. Because He is God, even bad things work toward His ultimate goals. Atheists and Satan live in eternal frustration because, no matter what they do or say, they cannot derail any of God's plans. Consider one of the worst things to happen: the murder of His Son, Jesus - the only innocent man ever. Yet, through His death, we sinful humans have the means to escape the consequences of our sin. Or, consider the disastrous fall of man when sin corrupted mankind in the garden. Because God works good out of every situation, through the fall the ultimate condition of man will be better than it would have been if we hadn't sinned in the first place.
That doesn't mean that the fall was a good thing. God always takes the bad and works out something good from it. It seems that, from where we are given a "glimpse behind the curtain", the greater the evil, the greater the ultimate good. From our limited perspective, this isn't always obvious. It certainly wasn't to Adam and Eve. It wasn't to the disciples for three days until Jesus rose from the dead. Even the evil of murder (and it is evil) cannot defeat the purposes of God. The murder of a believer, as tragic as that is, simply means that the believer has transitioned from this life of suffering to his heavenly home with a new body and with the One Who loves us. The pain of the parting is on the ones left behind, not the one who was murdered. And for those who believe, the parting is only temporary - as if the loved one merely went on a long journey and we will join them, in great joy, in the not-too-distant future.
What is comes to is this: trust. If we trust that He is good and is working everything together for the good of those who love Him4, then there is no evil so great that we cannot be thankful to God, even in the midst of our suffering. This doesn't make evil things less evil, but evil is only temporary and God will eventually set things right. Do we trust that he is both powerful and loving?5 Part of growing up into spiritual maturity is recognizing this fact.
One might wonder why God would forbid certain things, such as murder6, but then allow them to happen. If murder is against His will, which it is, then doesn't the existence of murder conflict with His will? I think the problem is a somewhat fuzzy definition of "will". Let me state it this way: God desires that we not sin. But He doesn't force His desires on us because He values our free will. But He also has a plan for creation (and we are part of creation). His ultimate goal is the fulfillment of His wonderful plan. There is no wiggle room here. His will, in terms of his plan, cannot be thwarted or altered. If ever our sin is in conflict with that plan, He will step in to make sure that His plan is accomplished. But I'm not sure that anyone's sin could ever conflict with His plan, because no matter what we do, He will work through it.
So we see that the exercise of our free will cannot interfere with God's plans. This is not an excuse to do whatever we want because "it doesn't matter in the end." What we do may not alter God's plans, but we can bring judgment and discipline down upon us based on what we do. If we reject His offer of salvation, we will suffer ultimate judgment and everlasting loss. If we are saved and yet sin, He will discipline us to rescue us from our sin. All believers undergo discipline as His children7, but we do not want to bring additional discipline onto ourselves since we wish to please Him. Besides, it is unpleasant to be disciplined. If we love others, we will naturally want to lead them to the Savior as soon as possible. Further, by being busy about the work He has given us during our short time on Earth, we can earn heavenly rewards. So there are many reasons for us serve Him. His plan will be accomplished whether we serve Him or not, but we gain many advantages by being aligned with His plan.
Despite the fact that God works through our actions, this is not to say that He does not intervene directly in the affairs of man. The greatest example of this is the incarnation of the Son. He also directs our affairs in numerous other ways. First was the creation itself. Mankind was created by God in His image.8 When Adam sinned, God cursed the creation.9 When humanity grew exceedingly evil, He sent the flood.10 He created the nations (defined by language).11 Though they made their own choices about where to dwell, He determined the places they would live.12 And here we see an example of how our choices dovetail with His plans. Because He is God, even our free will is subordinate to His master plan.
This may seem contradictory. How can God be sovereign and yet humankind have free will? This has been argued for centuries and I'm under no delusion that I can explain it any more satisfactorily than anyone else. Somehow both are true: we have free will, and God is sovereign over all of our affairs. Perhaps because He is outside of time and sees all of history, He knows where to "put His thumb on the scale" to guide humanity toward His ultimate goal. Maybe a million coincidences that lead to one rising to political power, or another dying early, or someone having unique opportunities in the development of science or technology, a mechanical failure, weather, and so on, are orchestrated by Him to accomplish His goals. Is our free will shaped by His intervention, or does His omniscience allow Him to make use of our free will, or is there some other explanation, or is it a combination of factors? Perhaps our finite minds are incapable of comprehending the intersection of free will and God's sovereignty. But one thing is clear throughout scripture: God's ultimate plan cannot be circumvented by us or Satan, at all.
Because God is in charge, no one else is. As has been said, "God is God, and we are not." But we have challenged His sovereignty since the start. When most people talk about the temptation of Eve in the garden, they point out that Eve was deceived into doubting the character of God. Speaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Satan says "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."13 People note that that it implies something wrong about God's character. While that is true, I think it misses the underlying issue. The statement is only valid if one assumes that God owed us anything in the first place.
Let us consider it from a human standpoint. Let's say that you write an original novel. There are no serious objections about what you do with that novel. You could modify it, you could shred it, you could burn it, you could give it away. Because you created it, you own it. Because you own it, you can do whatever you wish to it. Because God created humans, He has the inherent right to do with us whatever He wishes. He has no more obligation to us than the author has to his novel.
Instead of acknowledging His complete sovereignty and gratefully enjoying the marvelous creation that humans were placed in and part of, Eve made the choice of questioning that sovereignty. That is the crux of the original sin: denying that God has the right to do whatever He wants. This isn't a matter of "might makes right", but "creation grants ownership". And ownership grants control.
We see this twisted human perspective today as well. Nothing has changed with human nature. Now, it is true that God is love. Paul says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."14 His love for us is demonstrated throughout the Bible. But there are those who argue "how can God be love and still send people to hell." This is a misunderstanding of what love is, tempered by our emotions. Our minds are clouded because the heart is evil beyond understanding. We have neither the understanding, knowledge, nor standing to hold God to any standard - even His own. You can shake your fist at God and accuse Him of being unjust, but where will that self-righteous self-exalted attitude get you when we all stand before His judgment throne on the last day? See how far your arguments get you at that point.
Not to mention that we often misapply God's standards. As the sovereign Creator, He is free to set rules for us that He need not follow. Morals are what He defines them to be, and we get no say in that. When we kill a man, it is murder. When God kills a man, it is justice. The rules do not apply to Him. He could be completely capricious and still be in the right, because He alone is God.
Fortunately for us, He is not capricious. He is unchanging because He is outside of time and not subject to change.15 He is also truthful, so we can rely on His promises. He is also love, so we can rely on His patience, mercy, and gentleness. But because He gets to set the rules, He can declare that the only way to His mercy is through Jesus alone. His love is part of His nature, which is fortunate for us because there is nothing in our corrupted nature that would inspire love in Him otherwise. And He has demonstrated His love.
To criticize Him or insist on something more, or something else, is to return to the original sin of thinking that we are in any position to stand in judgment over our Creator or make demands of Him. He does what He wants, when He wants, and how He wants. We can either get on board with His plan, or suffer the consequences. We can humbly rejoice in the fact that He loves us and has wonderful things in store for us, or we can give in to sinful arrogance and launch accusations and slurs at Him and His character. Remember that God opposes the proud, but give grace to the humble.16
I've heard some believers use scripture to defend God's character, which is fine. But then they say something along the lines of "I wouldn't serve a God who had a bad character". My blood runs cold when I hear this, because this is an implicit positioning of ones self above God. What they are saying is that if God didn't meet their moral expectations then they would judge and reject Him. Not only would that not end well for them, but it demonstrates a heart that is not in subjection to God, regardless of their understanding. This is not humility. I can only hope that they do not mean what they are saying. But I know some people who have judged God and rejected Him because they view themselves as more righteous!
Often, though, this attitude is cloaked in a more subtle form. There are many who reject some parts of scripture because those parts are inconsistent with how they think God should work. They latch onto the parts of the scripture that they like to the exclusion of the parts they find less palatable. One example is those who deny that there is a hell, or deny that God would send people there. This is an implicit judgment of God according to their own standards. They say that because God is loving, He wouldn't send anyone to hell. Which is to say, that if God sends anyone to hell, He is therefore not loving and a liar. They are not willing to submit to a God Who would send people to eternal damnation, so they must shrink Him into a more acceptable form. Essentially, they worship a God of their own imagination. How is that different from the Greek and Roman worship of the Gods they created? It is nothing more than idolatry.
Since they have risen far enough above the Creator to judge Him, they are faced with a dilemma. They believe He is loving (which He is) based on the Bible, but then they must ignore the Bible when it disagrees with their viewpoint. But how can you trust one part of something which also contains falsehoods? If you doubt any part of it, all parts are called into question. As discussed previously, you have to take the Bible as all or nothing. This picking and choosing of which parts of the Bible to believe results in nothing more than an arbitrary philosophy/religion based largely on personal preference.
I do not dare to say that such people are unsaved. But they do not illustrate those who accept God as He is. He is due our worship and obedience because we owe it to Him, not because He owes anything to us. He is too far above us for us to judge. Anything other than humble submission to His sovereignty is nothing more than the original sin of lifting ourselves above Him. We must acknowledge that all of His ways are right17 - not because we judge them so by our standards, but because God gets to define what is right and wrong. Therefore, everything He does is right. We can acknowledge this, or we can persist in foolish human pride. The choice is ours. The ultimate consequences have been stated by God.
1 Psalm 44:21,
147:5,
Hebrews 4:13, etc.
2 Jeremiah 32:17,
32:27
3 Genesis 1
4 Romans 8:28
5 Psalm 62:11
6 Exodus 20:13
7 Hebrews 12:6
8 Genesis 1:27
9 Genesis 3:17
10 Genesis 6:9-17
11 Genesis 11:7
12 Acts 17:26
13 Genesis 3:5
14 Romans 5:8
15 Malachi 3:6
16 James 4:6
17 Malachi 3:6
Copyright © 2026 by Alan Conroy. All rights reserved.