Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen to the Saved and the Chosen?

Understanding Divine Sovereignty, Suffering, and the Eternal Purposes of God from the Inerrant Scriptures

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, this is one of the most pressing and painful questions that has echoed through the hearts of God’s people across every generation: Why does a sovereign, all-powerful, all-loving, and all-wise God permit — even ordain — suffering, trials, loss, sickness, betrayal, and hardship in the lives of those He has saved and chosen? We are not talking here about the judgment that falls upon the rebellious and unrepentant world. We are speaking of the afflictions that come upon the redeemed, the born-again, the blood-bought children of God who walk in the light of His Word and cling to the fundamentals of the faith once delivered to the saints.

This question is not new. It is as old as the book of Job and as fresh as the latest diagnosis, the latest pink slip, the latest betrayal by a trusted friend, or the latest wave of cultural hostility against those who still believe the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, and all-sufficient Word of God. Conservative Christians who hold fast to the sovereignty of God, the literal interpretation of Scripture where the text demands it, and the absolute lordship of Jesus Christ cannot dodge this issue with shallow slogans or sentimental clichés. We must go to the Scriptures themselves — the only infallible rule of faith and practice — and allow the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the manifold wisdom of God.

The Unshakable Foundation: The Absolute Sovereignty of God

Before we can understand why God allows bad things to happen to His own, we must begin where the Bible begins: God is God. He is not a limited deity, not a cosmic observer, not a being who is learning or reacting or negotiating with evil. “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me” (Isaiah 45:5). He “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11). Nothing — not the smallest sparrow, not the most wicked scheme of men or devils — falls outside the scope of His eternal decree and permissive will.

This is not fatalism. This is the biblical doctrine of providence. God is not the author of sin or evil (James 1:13), yet He sovereignly permits and overrules evil for His own holy purposes. The cross itself is the greatest proof: wicked men, moved by envy and hatred, delivered up the sinless Son of God to be crucified. Yet Peter declares that He was “delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). What men meant for evil, God meant for the greatest good — the redemption of a people for Himself. If God can sovereignly use the greatest evil in history for eternal good, He can certainly be trusted with the lesser evils and painful trials that touch our lives.

 The Classic Example: Job — Suffering That Proved Genuine Faith

No study of this subject is complete without a deep examination of the book of Job. Here is a man described by God Himself as “perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil” (Job 1:1). Yet in a single day Job lost his wealth, his servants, and all ten of his children. Then he lost his health, reduced to sitting in ashes, scraping himself with a potsherd while his wife urged him to “curse God, and die.”

Why did God allow this? The heavenly scene in chapters 1 and 2 reveals the answer. Satan accused Job of serving God only for the blessings: “Doth Job fear God for nought?” God permitted Satan to test Job, but with clear boundaries — first on his possessions, then on his body. Job’s suffering was a proving ground. It demonstrated to the unseen realm, to Job himself, and to every reader since that there are believers whose faith is not for sale, whose love for God is not dependent on circumstances.

Job’s response in the midst of unimaginable loss remains one of the highest expressions of faith in all of Scripture: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). Later, after months of agony and misguided counsel from his friends (who wrongly assumed all suffering is direct punishment for personal sin), Job heard God speak from the whirlwind. God did not give Job an explanation of the “why.” Instead, He revealed His own infinite wisdom, power, and majesty. Job’s final response was repentance in dust and ashes: “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).

The lesson for conservative Christians is profound. We may never receive a full explanation for our personal trials in this life. But we are called to trust the character and wisdom of the One who allowed them. Job’s story also warns us against the error of Job’s friends — the assumption that every trial is God’s direct punishment for some hidden sin. While God does chasten His children, not all suffering fits that category. Sometimes it is simply the proving of faith that is “much more precious than of gold that perisheth” (1 Peter 1:7).

Joseph: When Men Mean Evil, God Means Good

Consider Joseph, beloved son of Jacob, hated by his brothers, sold into slavery for twenty pieces of silver, falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, and forgotten in prison for years. From a human perspective, his life was a series of injustices. Yet at the end of the story, when his brothers stood before him in fear, Joseph spoke words that have comforted God’s people for millennia: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20).

God sovereignly used the evil intentions of Joseph’s brothers, the false accusation, and the long years in prison to position Joseph as second-in-command in Egypt so that he could preserve the covenant line through which the Messiah would eventually come. The same God who orchestrated these events in the life of Joseph is at work in your life and mine. What others intend for harm, God can — and often does — turn for good and for the furtherance of His redemptive purposes.

The New Testament Testimony: Suffering as the Path of Discipleship

The Lord Jesus Himself taught us that the servant is not greater than his Master. “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). The Apostle Paul, who suffered beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, hunger, cold, and a mysterious “thorn in the flesh,” declared: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). He did not present suffering as an exception for the super-spiritual; he presented it as the normal expectation for those who walk closely with Christ in a fallen world.

Paul’s theology of suffering is rich and multifaceted. In Romans 5:3-5 he writes that we “glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope.” In 2 Corinthians 4:17 he calls our afflictions “light” and “but for a moment” when compared with “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” In Romans 8:18 he says the sufferings of this present time “are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

The Apostle Peter echoes the same truth: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13). Suffering for the name of Christ is not strange — it is a participation in the sufferings of our Lord and a guarantee of future joy.

 The Specific Purposes God Accomplishes Through the Trials of His People

Scripture reveals several clear purposes God has in permitting — and even ordaining — hardship for the saved and chosen:

**1. The Refining of Faith**  

Trials burn away the dross of superficial belief. Peter compares the testing of faith to gold refined by fire (1 Peter 1:6-7). The fire does not destroy genuine faith; it purifies it and proves its authenticity. In an age of easy-believism and watered-down doctrine, God uses trials to separate the wheat from the chaff in His own household.

**2. The Production of Christlike Character**  

James 1:2-4 commands us to “count it all joy” when we fall into various trials because the trying of our faith works patience, and patience must have its perfect work so that we may be “perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” God is far more concerned with our holiness than with our temporal comfort. He is conforming us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29), and that process often requires the chisel of affliction.

**3. Fatherly Discipline and Training in Holiness**  

Hebrews 12:5-11 reminds us that “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” Chastening is not punitive wrath; it is the loving correction of a Father who wants His children to “be partakers of his holiness.” The peaceable fruit of righteousness comes afterward to those who are exercised by the discipline.

**4. Preparation for Ministry to Others**  

Second Corinthians 1:3-4 reveals that God comforts us in all our tribulation so that we may comfort others with the same comfort we received. The believer who has walked through the valley of chronic illness, the loss of a child, or deep depression is uniquely equipped to minister to others walking the same path. Our scars become our credentials for service.

**5. The Manifestation of God’s Power in Our Weakness**  

Paul’s thorn in the flesh was not removed, despite his earnest prayers. Instead, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God often allows us to be brought low so that the watching world — and the watching angels — can see that the power is not in us, but in Him.

**6. Deeper Dependence and Intimacy with God**  

Affliction has a way of stripping away our self-sufficiency. The psalmist confessed, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalm 119:71). Many of us pray more, search the Scriptures more diligently, and cling to the promises more desperately when the props of health, wealth, and ease are removed.

**7. The Display of God’s Glory and the Furtherance of the Gospel**  

The man born blind in John 9 was not suffering because of his sin or his parents’ sin, but “that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” When God sustains His people through impossible circumstances, He puts His glory on display. The world sees that there is a reality and a power in Christianity that cannot be explained by human strength.

Romans 8:28 — The Promise That Anchors Every Trial

No verse is more precious to suffering saints than Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Notice carefully what it does *not* say. It does not say that all things *are* good. Cancer is not good. Betrayal is not good. The death of a child is not good. But God sovereignly causes *all things* — including the bad things — to work together for the good of His people.

And what is that ultimate good? Verse 29 tells us: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.” The highest good is not our comfort, our health, or our prosperity in this life. The highest good is that we become more like Jesus. Every trial is a tool in the Master Sculptor’s hand to chip away everything in us that does not look like Christ.

 A Word to Conservative Christians in These Last Days

We live in days of increasing darkness. Biblical truth is mocked. Faithful churches are pressured to compromise. Families are divided over the clear teaching of Scripture on marriage, gender, and the sanctity of life. Many who once claimed the name of Christ have departed from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. In such a climate, those who remain steadfast will inevitably face opposition, marginalization, and various forms of suffering.

Do not be surprised. Do not be discouraged. Do not abandon the old paths. The same God who sustained the martyrs of the early church, the Reformers, and the faithful through every age of persecution is your God. He has not lost control. He has not changed. His Word is still settled in heaven. The blood of Jesus still cleanses from all sin. The Holy Spirit still indwells every true believer. And the promise remains: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

 Practical Exhortation: How Then Shall We Live?

When the storm comes — and it will come — respond as the saints of old responded:

- **Worship immediately.** Job blessed the name of the Lord before any relief came.

- **Search the Scriptures.** The Word is a lamp and a light. In it we find promises, examples, and the very presence of Christ.

- **Pray without ceasing.** Pour out your heart to the Father who collects every tear in His bottle (Psalm 56:8).

- **Fellowship with sound believers.** Do not isolate. The body of Christ is meant to bear burdens together.

- **Reject the lies of the enemy.** God is not punishing you for some forgotten sin every time you suffer. He may be refining you, preparing you, or simply calling you to trust Him when you cannot see the reason.

- **Fix your eyes on eternity.** This light affliction is but for a moment. The glory to come is eternal and weighty beyond all comparison.

 Conclusion: The God Who Works All Things for His Glory and Our Good

Dear child of God, if you are walking through deep waters right now, hear the Word of the Lord: Your suffering is not meaningless. It is not wasted. It is not outside the loving, sovereign control of your Heavenly Father. The same God who allowed His own Son to suffer and die for you is with you in your pain. He is working. He is refining. He is conforming you to the image of Christ. And one day soon, when faith becomes sight, you will see that every tear, every loss, every night of weeping was part of a glorious tapestry that only the Master Weaver could design.

Until that day, stand firm. Hold fast the profession of your faith without wavering. Trust the One who has promised that “all things work together for good.” And when you cannot trace His hand, trust His heart.

To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

DMMC 

7-13-26