Why Didn’t God Stop It? Understanding Divine Sovereignty in Our Pain
Why would a good, all-powerful God allow something so awful to happen?
It’s not just a philosophical question—it’s a deeply personal one.
You’ve likely asked it in the middle of a crisis, after the loss of someone dear, during a season of pain that made no sense.
It’s the silent scream behind countless midnight prayers:
“God… if You could have stopped this—why didn’t You?”
This blog post is an honest, grace-filled continuation of our latest Faith In Context podcast episode. It’s not here to give cliché answers, but to help you carry the weight of that question with theological truth, historical insight, and spiritual tenderness.
What Does It Mean That God Is Sovereign?
The sovereignty of God means that He is supreme in authority, infinite in power, and ultimately in control of all things. It doesn’t mean He causes evil—but it does mean He isn’t surprised by it.
“Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever pleases Him.”
—Psalm 115:3
“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
—Colossians 1:17
God is never out of His depth. But that only raises more questions, doesn’t it?
If He’s that powerful…
If He’s that in control…
Why didn’t He step in?
When the God Who Could… Doesn’t
This is the heart of the issue. And it’s the tension that many believers try to sidestep by overemphasizing one truth while ignoring another:
Some will say God is sovereign, so everything that happens must be His will.
Others say God is love, so He would never allow evil if He could help it.
But the Bible holds both truths together: God is all-powerful and all-loving. So the real question becomes:
Can a sovereign God allow pain without ceasing to be good?
Biblical Case Studies in Divine Restraint
Let’s look at three biblical stories that embody this tension:
1. Joseph (Genesis 37–50)
Sold into slavery. Betrayed. Imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. Years of loss and hardship. And yet, in Genesis 50:20, Joseph tells his brothers:
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…”
God didn’t stop the evil—but He wove it into a greater redemptive plan.
2. Job
Job lost everything—his children, his wealth, his health. For most of the book, God is silent. When He finally responds, He doesn’t explain Job’s suffering. He reveals His majesty. Sometimes God doesn’t give us answers—He gives us Himself.
3. Jesus
Perhaps the most staggering example: the crucifixion. God the Father did not spare His own Son from unspeakable suffering. And yet, through that pain, came salvation.
If God didn’t shield Jesus from suffering, we can’t assume love means exemption.
But we can trust that no suffering is wasted in His hands.
Theologians Have Wrestled with This Too
You're not alone in asking these questions. Some of the greatest minds in church history have walked this same road.
Augustine said:
“God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not to permit evil at all.”John Calvin affirmed that God ordains all things, yet clearly distinguished between God’s sovereignty and the origin of sin.
N.T. Wright offers pastoral hope:
“God’s way of dealing with evil is not to prevent it, but to absorb it, to deal with it, and to heal it from within.”
Their consensus?
God is not the author of evil—but He is the Master Redeemer of it.
Sovereignty Seen Through the Cross
Nowhere is this more clear than at the cross.
“This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge.”
—Acts 2:23
Jesus’ death was not an accident. It was sovereignly ordained—and yet brought about through sinful human actions. That tension is the heart of Christianity:
Evil was real.
Suffering was brutal.
But God was not absent.
He was at work—redeeming what looked unredeemable.
When God’s “No” Isn’t the End of the Story
There will be times when God could have intervened… and doesn’t.
There will be prayers that go unanswered.
There will be grief that lingers longer than we think it should.
But none of that means God is not sovereign.
It means the story isn’t finished.
Romans 8:28 doesn’t promise a painless life—it promises a purposeful one:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him…”
When Trust Is All That’s Left
Habakkuk wrote this in a season of devastation:
“Though the fig tree does not bud… yet I will rejoice in the Lord.”
—Habakkuk 3:17–18
That’s faith—not in outcome, but in character.
Because while God doesn’t always give us an answer, He always gives us Himself.
Final Thoughts
God’s sovereignty is not a cop-out.
It’s not an excuse to dismiss real pain.
It’s an invitation to believe that even when we can’t see the purpose, we are still being held by the One who has one.
He is God—even when He doesn’t stop the storm.
And sometimes, the greatest miracle isn’t that He calms it…
But that He walks with us through it.
