Updated on October 17, 2026
If God is really in control of everything, is He responsible for the evil and suffering in this world?
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The short answer
Throughout the book of Job, it is clear that not all human suffering results directly from sin, and not all suffering is just, yet God has a purpose in it and is ready to restore His people when they are faithful.
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I originally wrote this as a paper for my Introduction to the Old Testament class at Columbia International University. At its heart is a question I've seen people wrestle with in both faith and philosophy: if God is good and in control, why do we suffer? I'm sharing it here, lightly edited for the web, because the book of Job still offers one of the most honest answers I know.
The author of the book of Job presents important themes such as the problem of suffering and the question: if God is really in control of everything, then is He responsible for evil in this world? These subjects have been explored and debated since ancient times. The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary highlights the fact with examples of texts that “come from Sumer, Egypt, Ugarit, and Babylonia, but the two that are most similar to Job come from Babylonia” (Longman 948).
However, although these questions have always been difficult to answer, hopefully the reader can grasp the book's deeper wisdom, its lessons of faithfulness, and its warning that spiritual warfare is genuinely active in people's lives. The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary encourages the reader by saying, “We may not know why we suffer, but we do know that God is in charge and knows what he is doing” (Longman 949).
Do We Always Reap What We Sow? Job and Retribution Theology
Throughout the book of Job, it is evident that not all human suffering is a direct result of sin, and not all suffering is just, yet God has a purpose in it and is ready to restore His people when they are faithful. However, this idea challenges retribution theology by implying that God deals with His people based on a moral principle rather than a constant formula.
In Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian Survey, the author further says, “Stated simply, you reap what you sow. This is how God governs the world. The very rightness of right leads to blessings, and the wrongness of wrong leads naturally to disaster. But this doctrine of retribution is a general moral principle of God’s administration of justice, not a hard-and-fast rule to be applied to every individual case” (Arnold and Beyer 275).
Keep that thought in mind when asking why there is evil in the world and why bad things happen to good people, especially when analyzing the life and book of Job.
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If God Is All-Powerful and All-Loving, Why Is There Evil?
How can humanity reconcile that if God is all-powerful and all-loving, then why would He allow evil to have a presence in our world? The book of Job falls into the category of wisdom literature that searches and discovers the answer to this question.
The problem is defined more accurately in Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian Survey when it states, “On the one hand, if God were perfectly good, he would not allow evil to exist in any of its various forms (wars, famine, crime). Therefore, there must be some limit to his ability to control the circumstances of the world, and he is not all-powerful. On the other hand, if God were all-powerful, the fact that evil events and circumstances occur must mean that he sees nothing wrong with them. Therefore, he is not all-loving” (Arnold and Beyer 270).
However, this idea does not consider the Fall of Man, which results in humanity's sinful nature and its collective push away from the holy presence of God and into an imperfect world. Furthermore, it does not consider the consequences of that exact sinful nature combined with the free will that God grants humanity.
God is all-loving, but He is also just and cannot do what goes against His nature. Therefore, because God is righteous, He cannot be unrighteous. Instead, because of humanity’s free will, it’s more likely that He uses the consequences of human sin as instruments to carry out His will, justice, and purpose for His glory.
In Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, he writes, “None of us deserves God's favor or his mercy, but only eternal condemnation. Therefore, when God brings evil on human beings, whether to discipline his children, or to lead unbelievers to repentance, or to bring a judgment of condemnation and destruction upon hardened sinners, none of us can charge God with doing wrong” (326).
God does not carry out evil, but He may allow it through others as punishment for those who deserve it and as justice that demonstrates His holiness. When God’s people sin or disobey Him, He corrects them because He loves His people and does not want them to stray any further.
Why Did God Allow Job to Suffer?
However, how does this explain evil and suffering when it’s not a consequence of human sin? Job’s suffering is brought upon him after Satan challenges God, claiming that Job is only faithful to the Lord because of his prosperity and the “hedge around him and his household” (Job 1:8-12). Satan's accusations immediately imply that God isn't worthy to be worshiped without having given something in exchange for worship.
In Discovering the Mission of God: Best Missional Practices for the 21st Century, contributor Alex Luc describes this best when he writes, “Satan's goal is to prove that human faith in God is ultimately utilitarian, including the faith of a best saint of God. The implication is that every faith is bribed and God’s plan is a failure” (91).
If this is the case, would God not want to prove Satan wrong for His glory? And would God not want to show Satan and the other angels that humans’ worship is caused by faith in who He is rather than faith in what He provides?
In Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Psalms & Wisdom Literature, the author goes further and says, “The reader might assume that there is a direct connection between his [Job’s] great piety and his great wealth and social standing. However, the assumption that there must be such a link is shattered once God accepts the Satan’s challenge to test Job” (Lucas 136).
In one day, Job suffers the loss of his livestock, servants, and children, yet he still does not curse the Lord (Job 1:13-22). Though this suffering may seem unjust since Job was “a blameless and upright” man (Job 1:1), the reader can find an explanation for Job’s suffering, understanding that it resulted from factors and situations outside humanity’s control, all for God’s purpose. Because the suffering ultimately glorified God in heaven, the reader could say that God's purpose justified Job's suffering.
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Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? Job and Joseph
Even though Job had no awareness of Satan’s challenge to God, Job remained faithful, understanding to some degree that there was a purpose for his suffering and showing it when he says, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21).
As Job leaned on this kind of faith, he likely understood that sometimes humans are placed through suffering not just for themselves, but so those around them may also be blessed, or so God may be glorified. Job may also have understood that some kind of spiritual warfare was at work, though he was not fully aware of what was causing it.
Scripture shows other examples of this in Genesis when Joseph is sold as a slave by his brothers yet is then exalted by God and placed to forgive and bless his family later on in Egypt. It is likely that in his heart, Job carried the exact words toward his suffering as Joseph had and that he shared with his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:20). The apostle Paul later writes this same sentiment in his letter to the Romans (8:28).
Through this, the reader can see that not all suffering is punishment, but that God can still use the cruelest intentions and circumstances to work for the ultimate good of His faithful followers and His glory. In Discovering the Mission of God, contributor Alex Luc further says, “Job’s story shows that the victory of spiritual warfare does not depend on exemption from sufferings or protection from satanic attacks, but on the gaining of the human heart” (91).
Trusting God in the Storm: Why Faith Is Tested
“Trusting the Lord during a storm—that is trust.”
It would be easy to have faith without trials. However, is it true faith if it has never been tested? How would someone know how deeply they love and trust in the Lord if they are kept in a bubble of comfort?
Job's faith was tested when he faced adversity, and it affected those around him, for better or worse. His friends, who thought Job had secretly sinned and was suffering retribution, criticized him, yet despite all the adversity Job faced, he never abandoned God. If anything, Job’s suffering deepened his knowledge of God.
In Exploring the Old Testament, Ernest Lucas writes, “In the divine speeches, Yahweh reminds Job of the mysteries of nature that go beyond the comprehension, and suffering is one of these. The supremely important thing for Job is that God came to him in his suffering, showing him that he was not isolated from God” (139). Though humanity may suffer, God does not abandon His people. The book of Job helps the reader understand why suffering and evil exist in the world, and it also gives that suffering purpose.
In Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, he writes, “Not all discipline is in order to correct us from sins that we have committed; it can also be allowed by God to strengthen us in order that we may gain greater ability to trust God and resist sin in the challenging path of obedience” (812). Humanity can endure suffering for God's glory and, if we gain a wise perspective, it can also be for our benefit.
In the face of adversity, it's wise to reflect and understand that trials are often God's way of building resistance in our lives so we can handle greater responsibility later on. Or resistance is what sharpens our faith and increases our ability to glorify the Lord's name. Suffering helps us know God better.
In these cases, God desires to bless us, but sometimes, if we are not prepared, a blessing too soon can turn into a curse that either destroys a follower under its weight or builds pride in their heart. A blessing granted too soon, or with little resistance, is likely to lead to the belief that success results from personal merit rather than God's help. That is dangerous because people may then begin to believe He is not necessary for their lives.
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In the End, God Restored Job
In the end, because of Job’s faithfulness, God restored him. Finally, in Exploring the Old Testament, the author explains that “the message of the book is that though humans must suffer in the dark, their very suffering may be an enrichment of their experience if in it they know the presence of God” (Lucas 139).
God wants to be glorified, and He wants to have a relationship with His people. However, it is understandable that the Creator does not want a superficial relationship with those He loves. The book of Job shows us the necessity of suffering, for it draws us closer to God in our weakness and makes us examine the true depth of our faith.
Questions like these are the reason I call myself a philosopher by night. If you're curious where that name comes from and why I keep wrestling with life's biggest questions long after the world goes quiet, read What Does It Mean to Be a Philosopher by Night?
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the book of Job teach about suffering?
Throughout the book of Job, it is evident that not all human suffering is a direct result of sin, and not all suffering is just, yet God has a purpose in it and is ready to restore His people when they are faithful.
Why did God allow Job to suffer?
Job’s suffering is brought upon him after Satan challenges God, claiming that Job is only faithful to the Lord because of his prosperity. Because the suffering ultimately glorified God in heaven, the reader could say that God's purpose justified Job's suffering.
What is the main message of the book of Job?
The book of Job shows us the necessity of suffering, for it draws us closer to God in our weakness and makes us examine the true depth of our faith.
Works Cited
New International Version Bible. Zondervan, 2011. (Original work published 1978)
Arnold, Bill T., and Bryan Beyer. Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian Survey. Baker Academic, a Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2018.
Barnett, Mike, and Robin Martin. Discovering the Mission of God: Best Missional Practices for the 21st Century. IVP Academic, 2012.
Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Zondervan Pub. House, 2000.
Longman, Tremper. The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Baker Books, 2013.
Lucas, Ernest C. Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Psalms & Wisdom Literature. Vol. 3, InterVarsity Press, 2003.
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Meet the author
Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, raised in a military family, and a former U.S. Marine. He is the author of more than eight books in English and Spanish, including the Pencraft Award–winning Bittersweet, and is currently writing his first horror stories. He lives in Florida with his wife and daughter.