Today I am continuing my discussion about "good" vs. "bad" things which occur in our lives. If you missed my first post about this, please check it out first. I wanted to just spend some time today discussing what good can come out of "bad" (and I always place bad in quotes, signifying that these things are not objectively bad from God's perspective, even though from our limited and humanly perspective, they might seem so).
When we open God's Word, we will find that it is teeming with passages pertaining to this very subject. Both in the Old and New Testaments, we see that God purposes to bring good (i.e. salvation, the revelation of His glory and goodness to us and the world, etc) through seemingly "bad" situations. The first book of Genesis starts off with the wonder of Creation, but it doesn't take long (the 3rd chapter to be precise) until trouble ensues in the Garden paradise as Adam and Eve fall prey to Satan's lies and sin in flagrant disobedience to God. Now, as we've already discussed, sin is always BAD, objectively speaking, as it only produces separation from God and death. However, even in this dire context, we see the redemption story God has sovereignly designed begin to unfold, as God speaks about Christ, the "seed of the woman" who will crush the head of the Serpant (Satan) (Gen 3:15). We also see His provision of Christ's death, as God kills an animal (the first physical death and shedding of blood!) to provide the couple with animal skins to wear and hide their nakedness. Yes, sin always causes death, but God provides a substitutionary death (i.e. Christ's death on the cross) to cover our sins and make us righteous before Him.
We can continue to journey through Genesis and see how God meant "bad" things to be used for good in Joseph's life as we've already discussed (Genesis 50:20), as God uses him to bring salvation to God's people in a time of famine. In the next book of Exodus, we see how a king's decree to kill off all the baby boys would lead Moses's mother to set him adrift in a basket on the Nile...only to be discovered by Pharaoh's daughter and raised as Egyptian royalty, enabling him to free his Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery and lead them to the Promised Land (Exodus 2). And, before you get the idea that God sacrifices the life of the individual to simply provide for a people-group at large, we see God caring for the individual, in Job's life. It was God who initiated the conversation with Satan to unleash suffering in his life and family, however, at the end of the book, we see Job reap the rich reward of having a deeper intimacy and understanding of God, as a byproduct of all this suffering. He states in Job 42:5, "I had heard of you [God] by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you" (emphasis mine). We see that God has used the suffering in and around Job to develop a depth of fellowship with Him that most of us will never know this side of Heaven. And this understanding of God leads Job to weep and repent of his endless questioning in dust and ashes (vs 6).
Let's now jump on over to the New Testament. Again, we do not have to journey far into the first book of Matthew as it introduces the lineage of Christ, the God-man who will suffer and die and know more suffering than we ever will. Through His agonizing death and being forsaken by God on the cross (for a time), He would bring about the greatest GOOD the world will ever know...salvation from sin and power over death! And as we see Him suffer and die and then enjoy resurrection and eternal fellowship with God, we see our own salvation promised to us through Christ, as we will suffer (in a much more limited way) and die on this earth, but then enjoy resurrection and eternal life! And while sin is the WORST news of our world, eternal life with our Heavenly Father is the BEST news!!
Most of the New Testament authors go on to speak about suffering and the harvest it produces in our lives. James exhorts us to consider trials we face with "pure joy" as we know it will "make us mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4). Peter encourages us to "rejoice" when we have "been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith...may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6-7). In fact, he speaks that we ought not to be "surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed" (1 Peter 4:12-13). Paul encourages us to "glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3-4). The writer of Hebrews (in discussing the trial of godly discipline) states, "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (Heb 12:11). You see, through these authors, God is revealing to us that there is a greater glory to be revealed through trials and suffering.
So, I will leave you with a parting thought, compliments of Peter himself...
"Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good" (1 Peter 4:19). You see, ultimately, these "bad" things that happen come from a GOOD God who is loving, faithful, and trustworthy, and that gives us peace and assurance that He has our best interests and His good glory in mind!
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