If God is good, then why...
Your child is diagnosed with cancer.
A drunk driver kills your spouse.
A terrorist attack shatters a city.
And you ask:
Is God in control?
If God is good, why didn't He stop this?
If God could have prevented this, why didn't He?
This isn't academic theology. This question either strengthens your faith or destroys it.
Let me show you what Scripture actually says about God's sovereignty—even over evil.
What Does "Sovereign" Mean?
Sovereign = supreme authority and control over all things
When we say "God is sovereign," we mean:
God has absolute authority (no one can overrule Him)
God has absolute power (nothing is outside His control)
God has absolute knowledge (nothing surprises Him)
God has absolute control. (Full stop)
But here's the hard part:
If God is sovereign over everything, is He sovereign over:
Cancer?
Genocide?
Your suffering?
Evil itself?
The Bible's answer: Yes.
The Bible Says: God Is Sovereign Over All Things
1. God Is Sovereign Over Creation
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)
"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him." (Colossians 1:16)
God created everything. Therefore, He has authority over everything. It's the authority of the maker over the creation.
2. God Is Sovereign Over Nature
"He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)
"Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses." (Psalm 135:6-7)
God controls the weather, the seasons, the sun and moon. Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts and famines too.
3. God Is Sovereign Over Nations
"He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings." (Daniel 2:21)
"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will." (Proverbs 21:1)
God raises up rulers and brings them down. No government is outside His control.
4. God Is Sovereign Over Human Decisions
"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." (Proverbs 19:21)
Humans make choices—but God ordains the outcome.
5. God Is Sovereign Over Salvation
"He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will." (Ephesians 1:4-5)
"So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy." (Romans 9:16)
God chooses who will be saved. Salvation is not ultimately up to us—it's up to Him.
6. God Is Sovereign Over Evil
This is the hardest one.
Genesis 50:20 (Joseph to his brothers)
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today."
Joseph's brothers chose to betray him (evil)
God ordained their choice to accomplish His purposes (good)
Both are true.
Isaiah 45:7
"I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things."
God doesn't just allow calamity. He creates it.
Amos 3:6
"Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?"
Nothing happens outside God's sovereign will—not even disaster.
Acts 4:27-28 (The crucifixion of Jesus)
"For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."
The crucifixion—the worst injustice in history—was predestined by God.
Herod sinned by condemning Jesus
Pilate sinned by crucifying an innocent man
The mob sinned by calling for His death
But God ordained it all to accomplish salvation
God is sovereign over evil—but He is not evil.
The Hard Question: If God Ordains Evil, Is He the Author of Sin?
This is where most people stumble.
The logic goes:
God is sovereign over everything (including evil)
Nothing happens outside God's will
Therefore, God must be responsible for sin
But Scripture says:
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one." (James 1:13)
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)
God is not the author of sin. God is infinitely holy.
So how does this work?
The Mystery: God's Sovereign Will vs. Human Responsibility
The Bible teaches two truths simultaneously:
God ordains everything (including evil)
Humans are responsible for their choices
This is called "compatibilism" or "concurrence."
1: Joseph
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." (Genesis 50:20)
Joseph's brothers are responsible for their sin (they meant evil)
God ordained their choice to accomplish His purposes (He meant it for good)
Both are true. No contradiction. Putting it this way, they didnt consult God's will when they were planning to do evil to their brother. They just did it. They were always going to do that, it wasn't a factor what God's position was on the matter. So because God knew that they were going to do that, he allows it for his own purposes. Rather than casting aspersions at a Holy God, it shows the unholiness of man. We do evil by nature. Completely foreign to God's position, desire, nature, or approval, we do evil- and we dont really care as a humanity. (Actually, the Bible says that we cannot come to God by ourselves, our wills wont let us, He has to bring us to Himself.)
And we are not off the hook, because the Law exists, we know God's position on actions, and still we act against it.
2: The Crucifixion
"This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." (Acts 2:23)
God predestined the crucifixion (definite plan)
Humans are guilty for killing Jesus (lawless men)
God's sovereignty doesn't erase human guilt.
3: Pharaoh
"For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.'" (Romans 9:17)
God hardened Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 9:12)
Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 8:15)
Both are true.
God didn't force Pharaoh to sin. God ordained Pharaoh's sinful choice to accomplish His purposes.
How Does This Work?
Honestly? We don't fully know.
I heard John Macarthur say something in his sermons about this that I loved- these things seem contradictory because they are not yet finished. Redemptive history is not complete yet. And to our finite minds, what seems the irreconcilable works of an infinite God is really us looking at an unfinished eternal work.
Scripture reveals that God is sovereign over all things. It doesn't always explain how.
What we know:
God ordains the ends (what happens)
God ordains the means (how it happens—including human choices)
Humans genuinely choose (not puppets)
God is never the author of sin (James 1:13)
Analogy:
Imagine a master playwright writing a play:
The playwright ordains the plot (sovereignty)
The characters act according to their nature (human responsibility)
The characters' choices are real (not forced)
But the playwright accomplishes his intended ending (God's purposes)
The analogy breaks down (all analogies do). But it helps.