God and The Question of Randomness
God and The Question of Randomness
Photo Source: Artificially Generated
Is Anything Really Random If God Is in Charge?
I’ve had people recently ask me questions along the lines of: “Science says some things are random — like particles, mutations, or even which car wreck I get into. So… does God really control everything?”
That’s an honest question. But, at the end of the day, this isn’t just a science question. It’s a God question: Do we believe in a God who reigns or a God who just reacts?
The Bible’s answer is always: God reigns. “Our God is in heaven and does whatever he pleases.” (Ps. 115:3, CSB)
So the real issue is this: Can the universe have events that are truly random if God is truly sovereign? The Bible’s answer is: No. Things may appear random to us, but nothing is truly random to God.
There are two kinds of “Random,” and this is where some people get confused.
We have two separate ideas, known as:
Here’s the difference:
The Bible is totally fine with the first one (epistemic randomness). The Bible never allows the second one. Why? Because the moment God intends something, it’s no longer random anymore. There is an intended purpose. “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” (Prov. 16:33).
Casting lots was the most “random” thing people did in Bible times — and God says, “I ruled that too.”
But then why does Life Look So Unpredictable? Answer: Because we’re not God.
Scripture is honest: life doesn’t always line up with what people “deserve.”
So from our limited human perspective, life often feels messy, unfair, and at times, even random. One may even be tempted to ask where God is and doubt whether or not He cares about our situation. But here’s the key sentence for this blog today: Our vision is limited — God’s rule is not. What looks chaotic to us is coordinated by Him.
And that brings me to why the church (New Testament Christians) has repeatedly said “No” to ontological randomness...
Let’s say something really is fully random to the greatest extent (ontologically), meaning that “nothing caused it” for the events to occur (and by definition, this requires that not even God knows what happens next). That would mean, at a minimum, at least three things:
So, with that definition, all of a sudden, belief in ontological randomness makes God less than God! In this scenario, one must ask: Is he all-powerful and knowing, or not?
But God says:
So if God works all things, there can’t be a little corner of reality called “the random zone” where God has no say. That would make Him less than God. And that’s why we say: Ontological randomness and biblical sovereignty can’t live in the same house. If God gives it a purpose, it is no longer random.
Now, some will argue with this. They will try to say that “Randomness doesn’t cease to be random just because it was dealt with a purpose.” Lovingly, I tell you this is "wrong." To argue this way is to make a category error: it confuses epistemic randomness (how it looks to us) with ontological randomness (what it is in reality).
For example, consider shuffling a deck of cards. It is called “random,” yet the dealer’s purpose is to ensure fairness. But note that the dealer doesn’t cause the sequence of cards; the randomizer does (imperfectly, I will add). However, those people who argue that God works more like a card dealer, simply using the random outcome dealt to Him for the purpose of the game, are on seriously unbiblical grounds.
God is not a limited creature working with forces outside His control; He is the First Cause of all that exists (John 1:3; Col. 1:16–17). Everything is ordained by God and within His control. So he does not “use” uncaused randomness any more than He can “use” something that exists apart from His will (Rom. 11:36).
And biblically speaking, we must remember that randomness describes our ignorance, not God’s process. God does not deal from a shuffled deck that He didn’t control—He made the deck, ordained the shuffle, and designed every card’s position to reveal His glory. If the deck were truly random—meaning uncaused or purposeless—then neither physics nor divine providence would govern it. That would mean there exists a domain of reality uncaused and undirected by either natural law or divine will, which contradicts both science and Scripture. So even the most chaotic-appearing systems (weather, quantum events, shuffles, or lots) operate within ordered laws established by God (Ps. 119:89–91; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3).
And because Scripture teaches that God specifically ordains, knows, and upholds all things (Isa 46:10; Eph 1:11; Heb 1:3), “genuine randomness” (as I explained in detail above) would introduce ungoverned events that nullify prophecy, promise, providence, and prayer—therefore it cannot be the tool of the biblical God to produce freedom; human freedom is real but rests in God’s meticulous providence, not in metaphysical chance.
And all of that requires that if God purposes an event in its particulars, it cannot be random; if it’s random in its particulars, it isn’t purposed. If God “gives randomness a purpose,” then it ceases to be random because it is now an act of His will. To have an event both purposeful and purposeless at once is both metaphysically incoherent and biblically indefensible.
Now some people will say... But Pastor, look around, God allows evil and lets people sin and do all kinds of 'random things' to each other — isn’t that like randomness? No, those are two different categories.
So, the conclusion from the Bible is:
But What About Suffering, Cancer, and Random Car Wrecks?
Christians still suffer, get cancer, and die in car accidents. Doesn’t that mean things are just happening? No, it means we still live in a fallen world. After the Fall, everybody lives in a world of death, decay, and danger (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 8:20–23). 'Fallen' does not equal random.
So two people may die in the same crash, suffer, or develop cancer.
To us: it seems tragic and sudden; it appears random.
To God: neither was an accident.
Then, What Does God Actually Use?
God uses apparent (epistemological) randomness — what looks unpredictable to us — as a tool to teach us to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).
Okay, so if God is "in control," how should we think about what happens to us in life?
The Bible teaches one unified reality: God sovereignly ordains all that comes to pass, yet He is never the author or approver of evil. He may allow something, or He may engineer something, and we rarely know which is the case. When we say "ordain" or "allow," it is our human attempt to distinguish between actively knowing his intentions and passively being aware that he allowed something to occur. We see examples of this in Scripture. For example, consider Job. We are explicitly told that God permissively allowed Job to suffer boils on his skin, lose his kids, property, etc., but in reality, it was Satan who engineered Job's affliction. There is a concurrent agency. Yet, God remains sovereign over the outcome, using even evil deeds to accomplish His good and redemptive purposes.
Thus, God’s ordination includes both His active will (what He commands and delights in) and His permissive will (what He allows for a season to fulfill a larger redemptive plan). That’s not a dodge or wordplay — it’s the way Scripture holds the tension. What God permits, He permits with purpose. And in that sense, evil is never “for God’s Glory” in itself — But God can bring glory through it. Sometimes, we don't know or understand the purpose. In those times, we trust that God is good and He knows what He is doing. Sometimes it is not for us to receive an explanation.
But I acknowledge that when someone says, “God ordained this for His glory,” it can sound callous if not explained carefully. The evil itself — the abuse, the betrayal, the sin — is never good or glorious. It is wicked, and Scripture calls it such (Isa. 5:20). Yet, God’s ability to bring redemptive good out of evil is what magnifies His glory. The cross is the clearest example. It was the worst act of human evil in history — the murder of the sinless Son of God — and yet it was the very means of our redemption. “They did whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.” (Acts 4:27–28). So, in this example, we must never say, “The evil was for God’s glory,” we can say, “God overruled evil to display His justice, mercy, and grace — and to accomplish good that evil could never thwart.”
Okay, Pastor, How Ought We Live in a World That Feels Random?
Jesus: “You will have suffering… Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33).
5. Look past living life on earth “under the sun” to eternity.
Many things don’t make sense now. But one day, they will. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.” This verse captures the tension between present confusion and future clarity—our limited understanding “under the sun” will one day be replaced with perfect understanding in eternity. Other strong options that echo this truth include:
Bottom Line:
That’s the heart of it. There's no such thing as 'luck,' 'chance,' or 'coincidence' in the Bible in the same way that most people understand those words today.
I’ve had people recently ask me questions along the lines of: “Science says some things are random — like particles, mutations, or even which car wreck I get into. So… does God really control everything?”
That’s an honest question. But, at the end of the day, this isn’t just a science question. It’s a God question: Do we believe in a God who reigns or a God who just reacts?
The Bible’s answer is always: God reigns. “Our God is in heaven and does whatever he pleases.” (Ps. 115:3, CSB)
So the real issue is this: Can the universe have events that are truly random if God is truly sovereign? The Bible’s answer is: No. Things may appear random to us, but nothing is truly random to God.
There are two kinds of “Random,” and this is where some people get confused.
We have two separate ideas, known as:
- Epistemic randomness (merely looks random to us)
- Ontological randomness (really is completely random, even to God)
- Epistemic randomness is like rolling dice. I don’t know what number will come up, so it feels random. But in reality, it is not actually random. If we could calculate all the parameters (weight, wind, friction, force, speed, materials, etc.), we actually could predict how the dice would fall.
- Ontological randomness is very different. It would mean: there was no cause, no plan, no purpose — it just happened. Not even God planned it or knew it would happen.
The Bible is totally fine with the first one (epistemic randomness). The Bible never allows the second one. Why? Because the moment God intends something, it’s no longer random anymore. There is an intended purpose. “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” (Prov. 16:33).
Casting lots was the most “random” thing people did in Bible times — and God says, “I ruled that too.”
But then why does Life Look So Unpredictable? Answer: Because we’re not God.
Scripture is honest: life doesn’t always line up with what people “deserve.”
- “The race is not to the swift…” (Eccl. 9:11)
- The wicked sometimes prosper (Ps. 73; Eccl. 7–8)
- Creation is broken and groaning (Rom. 8:20–22)
So from our limited human perspective, life often feels messy, unfair, and at times, even random. One may even be tempted to ask where God is and doubt whether or not He cares about our situation. But here’s the key sentence for this blog today: Our vision is limited — God’s rule is not. What looks chaotic to us is coordinated by Him.
And that brings me to why the church (New Testament Christians) has repeatedly said “No” to ontological randomness...
Let’s say something really is fully random to the greatest extent (ontologically), meaning that “nothing caused it” for the events to occur (and by definition, this requires that not even God knows what happens next). That would mean, at a minimum, at least three things:
- God couldn’t have foreknown it.
- God couldn’t have purposed it.
- God couldn’t have promised what happens after it.
So, with that definition, all of a sudden, belief in ontological randomness makes God less than God! In this scenario, one must ask: Is he all-powerful and knowing, or not?
But God says:
- “He works all things according to the counsel of his will.” (Eph. 1:11)
- “I declare the end from the beginning…” (Isa. 46:10)
- “Not even a sparrow falls… without your Father.” (Matt. 10:29)
So if God works all things, there can’t be a little corner of reality called “the random zone” where God has no say. That would make Him less than God. And that’s why we say: Ontological randomness and biblical sovereignty can’t live in the same house. If God gives it a purpose, it is no longer random.
Now, some will argue with this. They will try to say that “Randomness doesn’t cease to be random just because it was dealt with a purpose.” Lovingly, I tell you this is "wrong." To argue this way is to make a category error: it confuses epistemic randomness (how it looks to us) with ontological randomness (what it is in reality).
For example, consider shuffling a deck of cards. It is called “random,” yet the dealer’s purpose is to ensure fairness. But note that the dealer doesn’t cause the sequence of cards; the randomizer does (imperfectly, I will add). However, those people who argue that God works more like a card dealer, simply using the random outcome dealt to Him for the purpose of the game, are on seriously unbiblical grounds.
God is not a limited creature working with forces outside His control; He is the First Cause of all that exists (John 1:3; Col. 1:16–17). Everything is ordained by God and within His control. So he does not “use” uncaused randomness any more than He can “use” something that exists apart from His will (Rom. 11:36).
And biblically speaking, we must remember that randomness describes our ignorance, not God’s process. God does not deal from a shuffled deck that He didn’t control—He made the deck, ordained the shuffle, and designed every card’s position to reveal His glory. If the deck were truly random—meaning uncaused or purposeless—then neither physics nor divine providence would govern it. That would mean there exists a domain of reality uncaused and undirected by either natural law or divine will, which contradicts both science and Scripture. So even the most chaotic-appearing systems (weather, quantum events, shuffles, or lots) operate within ordered laws established by God (Ps. 119:89–91; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3).
And because Scripture teaches that God specifically ordains, knows, and upholds all things (Isa 46:10; Eph 1:11; Heb 1:3), “genuine randomness” (as I explained in detail above) would introduce ungoverned events that nullify prophecy, promise, providence, and prayer—therefore it cannot be the tool of the biblical God to produce freedom; human freedom is real but rests in God’s meticulous providence, not in metaphysical chance.
And all of that requires that if God purposes an event in its particulars, it cannot be random; if it’s random in its particulars, it isn’t purposed. If God “gives randomness a purpose,” then it ceases to be random because it is now an act of His will. To have an event both purposeful and purposeless at once is both metaphysically incoherent and biblically indefensible.
Now some people will say... But Pastor, look around, God allows evil and lets people sin and do all kinds of 'random things' to each other — isn’t that like randomness? No, those are two different categories.
- Sin = moral rebellion inside God’s world
- God permits it.
- God overrules it.
- God can even use it for good (Gen. 50:20; Acts 2:23).
- Ontological randomness = something that happens fully outside any plan or control
- That would be something God didn’t see coming.
- That would punch a hole in His sovereignty.
- God would simply be reacting to whatever happened, and that would not be biblically true to how we see God at work in Human history.
So, the conclusion from the Bible is:
- God can govern sinners.
- God cannot “govern” what, by its literal definition, has no governor. That’s why sin can exist in a world ruled by God. But true randomness can’t. And that is why the Christian church has rejected it for centuries (Augustine, Calvin, Aquinas, Edwards, Spurgeon, many others).
But What About Suffering, Cancer, and Random Car Wrecks?
Christians still suffer, get cancer, and die in car accidents. Doesn’t that mean things are just happening? No, it means we still live in a fallen world. After the Fall, everybody lives in a world of death, decay, and danger (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 8:20–23). 'Fallen' does not equal random.
- Creation was “subjected to futility” by God — but look closely, the Scripture also qualifies by saying “in hope” (Rom. 8:20). And that word "Hope" implies that even decay has a purpose.
- “All my days were written in your book…” (e.g., there is a beginning and end, Ps. 139:16)
- Nothing can separate us from God’s love — not even death (Rom. 8:35–39)
So two people may die in the same crash, suffer, or develop cancer.
To us: it seems tragic and sudden; it appears random.
To God: neither was an accident.
Then, What Does God Actually Use?
God uses apparent (epistemological) randomness — what looks unpredictable to us — as a tool to teach us to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).
- We see: “That was lucky.”
- God sees: “That was providence.”
- We see: “That was bad timing.”
- God sees: “That was right on time.”
Okay, so if God is "in control," how should we think about what happens to us in life?
The Bible teaches one unified reality: God sovereignly ordains all that comes to pass, yet He is never the author or approver of evil. He may allow something, or He may engineer something, and we rarely know which is the case. When we say "ordain" or "allow," it is our human attempt to distinguish between actively knowing his intentions and passively being aware that he allowed something to occur. We see examples of this in Scripture. For example, consider Job. We are explicitly told that God permissively allowed Job to suffer boils on his skin, lose his kids, property, etc., but in reality, it was Satan who engineered Job's affliction. There is a concurrent agency. Yet, God remains sovereign over the outcome, using even evil deeds to accomplish His good and redemptive purposes.
Thus, God’s ordination includes both His active will (what He commands and delights in) and His permissive will (what He allows for a season to fulfill a larger redemptive plan). That’s not a dodge or wordplay — it’s the way Scripture holds the tension. What God permits, He permits with purpose. And in that sense, evil is never “for God’s Glory” in itself — But God can bring glory through it. Sometimes, we don't know or understand the purpose. In those times, we trust that God is good and He knows what He is doing. Sometimes it is not for us to receive an explanation.
But I acknowledge that when someone says, “God ordained this for His glory,” it can sound callous if not explained carefully. The evil itself — the abuse, the betrayal, the sin — is never good or glorious. It is wicked, and Scripture calls it such (Isa. 5:20). Yet, God’s ability to bring redemptive good out of evil is what magnifies His glory. The cross is the clearest example. It was the worst act of human evil in history — the murder of the sinless Son of God — and yet it was the very means of our redemption. “They did whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.” (Acts 4:27–28). So, in this example, we must never say, “The evil was for God’s glory,” we can say, “God overruled evil to display His justice, mercy, and grace — and to accomplish good that evil could never thwart.”
Okay, Pastor, How Ought We Live in a World That Feels Random?
- Trust God’s character when you can’t trace His plan.
He is good, He is wise, He is in control. All things work for our good and to make us more conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29) - Pray, because life is not random. God answers His people's prayers.
If events were truly random, prayer wouldn’t matter. But it does. “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6; 1 John 5:14–15; Romans 8:26-27; 1 Thess. 5:16–18 ) - Give thanks in everything (1 Thess. 5:18).
Not because everything is pleasant, but because nothing is pointless (Ro. 8:28-29, Jas. 1:2–4). God is working through it all for His good purpose.
Jesus: “You will have suffering… Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33).
5. Look past living life on earth “under the sun” to eternity.
Many things don’t make sense now. But one day, they will. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.” This verse captures the tension between present confusion and future clarity—our limited understanding “under the sun” will one day be replaced with perfect understanding in eternity. Other strong options that echo this truth include:
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 (CSB):“He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.”
- Romans 8:18 (CSB):
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.”
Bottom Line:
- The Bible never teaches “luck runs the world.” There is no affirmation of ontological luck, chance, or coincidence in the Bible. Personally, I try to make a habit of not using such words so as not to confuse blind luck with what I know to be God's sovereignty.
- The Bible does teach “God runs the world — even the parts that look lucky.”
- What looks random to us is just God’s secret work.
- Christians should talk less about fate and more about how we can glorify God in the midst of our circumstances, whether they are good, bad, or ugly.
In other words, God does not play the hand He’s dealt. He made the deck.
“For from him and through him and to him are all things.” (Rom. 11:36)
That’s the heart of it. There's no such thing as 'luck,' 'chance,' or 'coincidence' in the Bible in the same way that most people understand those words today.
"Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” -- John 3:3
Have you been born again? The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that the wages of sin is death. However, there is Good News! The Bible also says that the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 3:23 and 6:23). Is Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior? If not, why not?
Have you been born again? The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that the wages of sin is death. However, there is Good News! The Bible also says that the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 3:23 and 6:23). Is Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior? If not, why not?
Recent
Archive
2025
April
September
October
2024
February
April
July
December
2023