Is God in Control of Bad Things Too?

Open the Bible UK Daily

Disaster has come down from the LORD.

Micah 1:12

We must affirm that God is in control not only of good things but also bad. This isn't easy. In fact, it is so difficult that some Christians have felt that it would be better to keep God at a distance from disasters altogether.

Back in the eighteenth century there was a movement called deism. Deists believe that God created the world but then He stepped back, like a watchmaker who makes a watch, winds it up, and then lets it run on its own without any further interference.

So, if God is at a distance and something good happens to you, the deist believes there is no reason to thank Him for it. And if something bad happens there is no reason to blame Him for it. There are no miracles, no salvation, and no prayer. All that you really have is yourself.

The Bible shows that deism is quite different from Christianity, because in it the Creator is always involved with His creation—reigning, intervening, hearing and answering prayer, sending His Son into the world, opening blind eyes, and raising the spiritually dead.

So, nobody who believes the Bible will embrace deism, but some Christians want to go halfway there. They want to say that God is in control of the good things that happen but not the bad.

But if God is in control of the good, who’s in control of the bad? And if the bad is greater than God, we are in real trouble! If God is not sovereign, then evil is; or we are all adrift on a sea of chance. The Bible brings us the good news that God is in control of the disasters of life.

Does it seem like “good news” to you to know that God is in control of disasters?