Why We Must Stop Blaming God for the Work of the Devil
When tragedy strikes, people often reach for spiritual language too quickly. A storm destroys homes, a child dies, a sickness lingers, a family loses income, and someone says, “God must have had a reason.”
That statement may sound reverent, but it can wound people deeply. It can also misrepresent the heart of God.
God is loving, righteous, joyful, generous, and good. The love He showed through Jesus at Calvary is beyond full human understanding. The Father gave His Son. Jesus shed His blood for sinners. No believer could ever repay that gift. Keeping our eyes on Jesus is not optional for Christians. He is our Savior, our Lord, and the answer in every storm.
Yet focusing on Jesus does not mean blaming Him for everything that happens. Some things are not from God. Some things are the work of the enemy.
Jesus showed us what the Father is like
If we want to know what God is like, we look at Jesus.
Jesus healed the sick. He fed the hungry. He welcomed children. He forgave sinners. He delivered the oppressed. He wept with the grieving. He brought life where death had taken over.
He did not walk through villages handing out disease to teach lessons. He did not create lack to prove a point. He did not crush broken people and call it righteousness.
John 10:10 draws a clear line:
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
The thief steals, kills, and destroys. Jesus gives life.
That verse alone should make believers pause before calling destruction “the will of God.” If something steals, kills, and destroys, it carries the fingerprints of the thief, not the heart of the Shepherd.
God is not trying to take life away from His people. He is the giver of life. God is not trying to strip His children of every blessing. Scripture says He is able to make “all grace abound” toward us, so that we may have sufficiency and abound in good works, as 2 Corinthians 9:8 teaches.
God is not the problem He sent Jesus to solve.
We should not call disaster the judgment of God
Every time a hurricane, tornado, flood, or fire devastates a region, some Christians rush to explain it as God’s judgment. That response may sound bold, but it often lacks the spirit of Christ.
Natural disasters bring death, injury, fear, loss, and grief. Families lose homes. Parents bury children. Communities spend years rebuilding. To stand at a distance and declare, “God did this,” is not only careless, it can paint God as the author of suffering.
On this side of the cross, we must be very careful with that kind of claim.
Jesus bore judgment for sin. He carried the curse. He took the punishment humanity deserved. The cross does not make God careless about sin, but it does reveal that His answer to sin was redemption through Christ, not random destruction of the hurting.
This does not mean every hard event is simple to explain. We still live in a fallen world. Creation groans. Human choices matter. Evil exists. Satan is active. But mystery is not a license to blame God for the devil’s work.
There is a better Christian response to disaster:
Pray for protection and rescue.
Help the suffering.
Give generously where possible.
Speak life, not accusation.
Refuse to call destruction good.
Grief needs comfort, not bad theology
Few phrases have caused more pain than, “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.”
Many people quote it when a child dies, when a loved one passes unexpectedly, or when a family suffers a crushing loss. Usually, they mean to comfort. Yet the grieving person often hears something devastating: God gave me someone to love, then He took them from me.
That is not the picture of the Father Jesus revealed.
Children are a blessing from the Lord. Life is a gift. Psalm 91:16 speaks of long life as part of God’s promise to those who dwell in Him. Death is called an enemy in Scripture, not a friend. It is not something God enjoys using against His children.
The quote from Job came from a man in deep pain, before the full revelation of Christ and the victory of the cross. Job was trying to worship through confusion. We can honor his reverence without building our entire view of God on his grief-stricken understanding.
When someone loses a child, a spouse, a parent, or a friend, they do not need a cold explanation. They need the comfort of the Holy Spirit. They need the love of the church. They need to know that God is near to the brokenhearted.
They need to hear, “God is not your enemy in this. He is with you, and He loves you.”
The enemy deserves the blame for his own work
This is not a call to focus on the devil. Christians should not become devil-conscious. Our eyes belong on Jesus.
Yet we must still discern the source of what we are seeing. Giving God the blame for Satan’s work confuses people. It weakens faith. It makes prayer feel pointless. If God caused the sickness, should we resist it? If God caused the financial collapse, should we ask Him for provision? If God killed the child, how can the grieving parent trust Him?
The Bible names Satan as an enemy, a deceiver, a tempter, and a thief. His work began in rebellion and continued in the Garden of Eden. He did not deceive humanity by accident. He wanted authority. He wanted obedience. He wanted to corrupt what God had blessed.
Satan hates what God loves. He hates people made in God’s image. He hates the children of God. He hates the authority restored to believers through Christ.
The works of darkness include sickness, disorder, chaos, lack, violence, hatred, idolatry, betrayal, addiction, oppression, shame, and death. These things do not reflect the nature of a good Father.
James 1:17 says every good and perfect gift comes from above. That gives us a simple test. If it is good and perfect, it reflects God’s heart. If it steals, kills, and destroys, it does not.
Keep your eyes on Jesus and tell the truth about God
A believer does not glorify God by blaming Him for evil. We glorify Him by believing what Jesus revealed about Him.
God is not mad at the person facing financial hardship. He is the provider. God is not cruel to the parent who lost a child. He is the comforter. God is not the author of sickness. He is the healer. God is not pleased by destruction. He is the giver of abundant life.
That does not mean every question gets answered quickly. It does mean we start from the right foundation.
God is good. Jesus is Lord. The devil is the thief.
So when suffering comes, resist the urge to accuse God. Run to Him instead. Pray with confidence. Comfort the hurting. Stand against the works of darkness. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and do not attribute to the Father what belongs to the enemy.
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