Does God make mistakes?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Because He is perfect in knowledge, wisdom, and power, and His plans and actions are always just and good, God does not make mistakes. While suffering and evil exist, these result from human rebellion, not from error on God’s part. Scripture shows that God’s purposes are sovereign and unchanging, working all things—even sin and trials—together for good according to His perfect plan. God’s unchanging character means He never regrets, revises, or misjudges, unlike humans who often do. Knowing this truth brings comfort. It calls us to trust His wisdom, and it frees us from trying to control every outcome; we are safe in His hands.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• Deuteronomy 32:4 declares that God's work is perfect and all His ways are just, showing that He never makes a mistake.
• Some suggest that human disease or disability is evidence of God making a mistake. However, when God created, everything was good (Genesis 1:31a). God calls His creation “very good,” which means that everything was created to His exacting standards.
• Some also point to Genesis 6:6 as evidence God made a mistake in creating humanity, but the context shows He was grieved by human sin, not regretful of creation itself—He still chose to preserve Noah (Genesis 6:8).
• Disease and disability entered the world through Adam and Eve’s rebellion, not because of a mistake by God (Genesis 2:17; 3:16–19). Their sin brought a curse that introduced suffering into a once-perfect creation.
• Scripture does sometimes use language that sounds like God “regrets” something (i.e., Genesis 6:6), but these passages express God’s grief over human sin, not uncertainty or fault in His own actions. He responds righteously in time to human choices, not in second guessing what He did or said.
• Unlike us, God is perfectly constant and never needs to revise His words; as Balaam declares in Numbers 23:19, He does not lie or change His mind.
• Psalm 18:30 says that His ways are not just free from error—they are the standard of what is right.
• Human leaders falter due to limited understanding, but God’s decisions flow from perfect and infinite knowledge (Psalm 147:5).
• God is not like us. He never learns something new, overlooks a detail, or acts on bad information. His knowledge is complete (Isaiah 40:28), His plans are perfect (Psalm 33:11), and His purposes are always fulfilled (Isaiah 46:10). While people often regret their choices or revise their judgments, God never does because He never errs.
• Isaiah 46:9–10 reminds us that God declares “the end from the beginning” and that His counsel will stand. “I will accomplish all My purpose.” Nothing surprises Him. Nothing causes Him to change course because nothing falls outside of His wise and sovereign plan.
• God’s ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8–9). We may not understand all that He allows, but we can trust that He never acts in error. His character is flawless, His actions are just, and His purposes cannot fail.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Redemptive history shows us that even when things seem confusing or painful from a human perspective, God is still working out His purposes (Romans 8:28; Genesis 50:20). He brings beauty from brokenness and order from chaos. He does not cause sin, but He sovereignly allows sinful actions, mysteriously weaving them into His perfect plan.
• While we may struggle to understand how sin and evil can exist with God while not being an accident or outside of His control, Romans 11:33 proclaims, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and inscrutable His ways!” We don’t fully understand because God’s mind exceeds human understanding.
• God only gives what is good (James 1:17). Everything that is good comes from God. When James said that there’s no “shifting shadow” he meant that God never changes in the slightest. Because He never changes, He remains perfect and, thus, incapable of error.
• Ephesians 1:11 says that God “works all things according to the counsel of His will.” Everything that happens in this life, including sin, is part of God’s plan. For believers, we can see that “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). He never loses control or makes a mistake.
• God can use our weaknesses to display His greatness (2 Corinthians 12:7). God refused to remove Paul’s thorn in the flesh. The result was that Paul could say, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Sometimes, what feels like mistakes in our lives is really God maturing us.
• James agrees with this. Suffering and trials, rather than being mistakes, are brought by God to build endurance within us (James 1:2–3).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

In a fallen world full of brokenness, the truth that God does not make mistakes is a great comfort. It means we are not at the mercy of randomness or subject to the failures of a flawed deity. The God who rules the universe never overlooks any detail. In short, He never fails.

That truth should cause us to rethink our struggles. When we encounter suffering or disappointment, we may be tempted to wonder if God has gotten something wrong. But Scripture tells us that He is always at work—often in ways we cannot see (Romans 8:28). His plans are not reactive or uncertain. They are wise, righteous, and good.

At the same time, this doctrine humbles us. We often think we know what would be best for us. That is why we call trouble, “mistakes.” But we simply can’t see the whole picture. God, however, knows everything that is going on. We must learn to trust His character, even when we cannot figure out why something is happening to us (see the book of Job).

How we read Scripture should also be affected by knowing that God never makes mistakes. Because there are no mistakes, His Word is trustworthy (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Every command, promise, and doctrine flow from a perfect mind. We don’t need to second-guess the Bible—we need to submit to it with confidence.

Finally, when we remember that God is not making mistakes, we no longer have the burden of trying to control life or fix every problem. God’s sovereign wisdom frees us to obey faithfully, pray earnestly, and trust deeply. Because He does not make mistakes, we are safe in His hands.

UNDERSTAND

• God is perfect in knowledge, wisdom, and power, so He never makes mistakes.
• Human suffering, sin, and evil are the result of human rebellion, not God’s error.
• Because God never fails, we can fully trust His Word, His character, and His purposes, knowing we are safe in His hands—even in life’s hardest moments.

REFLECT

• How does disappointment or suffering affect your view of God's plan—and what helps you hold on to the truth that He never makes mistakes?
• In what areas of your life do you struggle most to believe that God’s wisdom is greater than your own understanding?
• How does knowing that God never makes mistakes affect the way you respond to trials, regrets, or things you don’t understand?

ENGAGE

• Why are we often tempted to view hard circumstances as evidence that God has made a mistake?
• How can believing in God’s perfect wisdom and sovereignty shape our group’s view of suffering and purpose?
• What does it look like in real life to trust that God is in control—even when His ways don’t make sense to us?