Did God Do That?
God doesn’t cause bad things to happen; He only allows bad things to happen. This is a phrase I have heard and accepted from as early as I can remember. This “hardly questioned among Christians” theological framework makes pretty decent logical sense:
God is perfect in love, so He wouldn’t cause bad.
God is perfect in power, so He could stop all bad.
Yet bad things still happen.
Only one thing makes sense—God sometimes chooses not to intervene. He doesn’t cause bad; He allows bad.
Like a batter who watches a strike go by, God simply steps out of the way and lets the bad through.
Not only is the logic sound, but there is some real biblical backing for this theological framework, most famously found in the first chapter of James and the opening scene of Job.
“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. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” (James 1:13–14)
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17)
“And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.” (Job 1:12)
James makes it clear that God does not tempt, and the Job account speaks to God giving Satan the parameters and then letting him work within those. I bring these passages up to give real credibility to the framework that God allows and does not cause bad things to happen.
However…
As you read through your Bible, you will encounter passages that do not fit neatly into this theological box. Let me put a few of these before you.
“On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.” (1 Samuel 1:4–5)
God allowed Hannah’s womb to be closed? Not so. “The Lord had closed her womb.”
“Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.The barren has borne seven,but she who has many children is forlorn.The Lord kills and brings to life;he brings down to Sheol and raises up.”(1 Samuel 2:5–6)
The Lord allows death and brings to life? No. “The Lord kills and brings to life.”
A side note on this passage: I find this prayer of Hannah, specifically this line, to be the primary theme of the entire work of 1 & 2 Samuel, which the writer continues to highlight throughout the books.
“Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.” (1 Samuel 16:14)
“Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” (1 Samuel 16:16)
“And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.” (1 Samuel 16:23)
From whom did the harmful spirit that tormented Saul come? Satan? That’s not what my Bible says! How about the son of David and Bathsheba?
“And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick… On the seventh day the child died.” (2 Samuel 12:15, 18)
One of my very favorite examples is found in Habakkuk 1, concerning Habakkuk’s question of what God is going to do about the wickedness in Israel.
“Look among the nations, and see;wonder and be astounded.For I am doing a work in your daysthat you would not believe if told.
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,that bitter and hasty nation.”(Habakkuk 1:5–6)
God makes it clear: He sees the evil, He is working in the world, and He is empowering the Chaldeans (Babylon) to raid, pillage, and enslave Israel. Does God “allow” the Chaldeans to destroy Israel? Nope. God sends them.
Other passages which could be considered are 1 Kings 22:19–28, Isaiah 45:7, Amos 3:6, and Lamentations 3:37–38. The main point is this: there are a large number of Bible passages which ought to make us reconsider what the Lord is willing to do to accomplish His will. I want to suggest that the biblical answer to this question is not nearly as clear-cut as we would like it to be.
What is the point of all this? Why bring up these passages that make the water so muddy? I have a few reasons in mind.
First is simply to bring attention to the fact that we often put biblical issues into clear-cut boxes that simply aren’t clear-cut—the work of the Holy Spirit, eschatology, spiritual gifts, angels and demons, and others. The topic discussed today serves as a good reminder that we ought to be quite careful when speaking in absolutes, as if we have all the corners of any given theological issue perfectly nailed down. Deeper study of issues often reveals we’ve got more corners flapping in the wind than we thought. This should not end in universalism or uncertainty, but humility.
Second is to cause us to rethink what we consider to be good things and bad things. There is a sense in which “God does not cause bad things to happen” is certainly true. James covers this. God is not the source of evil or temptation in the world. But then how did God afflict David’s child or close Hannah’s womb? I’d like to propose that it is because my definition of what is ultimately good and bad versus God’s definition of what is ultimately good and bad are not the same. Just as a child believes that candy is good and no candy is bad, but the father’s definitions differ, so it is with us and God.
Third is to remind us that God is sovereign and active during joy and calamity. To maintain the original claim that “God does not cause bad, only allows it” forces us to see God as the Supreme Ruler of creation who occasionally, and even often, “steps out of the way to let nature run its course” or “takes a back seat.”
Admittedly, we have free will, and some suffering is simply cause and effect. However, the Bible absolutely does not allow its reader to believe for a single second that God steps out of the way. God never throws His hands up and says, “Too bad, that’s just how things go.”
God is sovereign over nature when wombs are closed and opened, when children are afflicted and healed, and when nations rise and fall. No event, good or bad, falls outside God’s authority.
The biblical writers force a strong view of God upon us. God is not weak. God is not passive. God does not bow to nature. God certainly does not bow to Satan.
In good and bad, in death and life, in all things—God reigns.
