7th March 2026 Question box

OK, so tonight’s question is:

How come when good things happen in our life, God get’s the credit (e.g. job, marriage, blessed in other ways). But when we go through bad things its often people putting the blame on sin or the devil. I know bad things have to happen in this world, but maybe I’ve heard the opinion because I spend too mcc time on the internet.

It’s a good question; I feel like in the question box, we’ve exploring the different implications of God’s sovereignty.

Now it may be that when people only give God the credit for the good things, that its the result of sloppy thinking. As if God’s only in the picture when we’re getting what we want. It may be that they are not seeing the truth that the God we worship is: “…Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11), and that He is “sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). And so it may be that when difficult things happen, we need to be more thoughtful about what God’s doing in our lives.

However it may also be that when we give God credit for the good things, that it’s actually because we have thought very carefully about how God rules over all things. Because although everything that happens is part of his plan, the way God relates to good and evil is not symmetrical.

Sometimes God acts by intervening in this world for good; sometimes he acts by permitting evil people to make evil choices. I think I’ve mentioned before that theologians speak about first and second causes. God is the first cause of everything that happens, but his purposes usually come to pass through what we call “second causes,” which are the more immediate factors.

This means that while God is the author of the whole story, we cannot blame him for the evil choices people make. For example, James says: “13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” …14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire… Every good and perfect gift is from above.” (James 1:13-17) Or in 1 John 2:16 “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”

And so when difficult things happen, how should we respond? Well, we can recognise that sin or the devil is active; and yet we can also trust that evil will only go as far as God permits, and that God will work even the hard things for good in the end. Also, when recognisably good things happen it is right to thank God, because every good and perfect gift is ultimately from above. In the bad things we trust God, in the good things we thank God.

I’ve said this before, but the gospel provides the supreme answer to all these questions about God’s sovereignty and the evil that happens in the world. God purposed and permitted that Satan would work through sinful people, to nail Jesus to a cross. And yet God also intervened by his Holy Spirit to raise Jesus from the dead, and give life to the world… and for that God deserves all the credit.

---

This question was originally answered in our evening service on 2 November 2025. I’ll aim to post another question and answer next week. You can read about how our question box works here.