So many times God becomes the "punching bag" for people who are going through something rough. They are looking for something or someone to blame, and most of the time God is at the top of that list. People want to say "He's in control" when things don't turn out right and say things like "why would He let this happen". But then when things do turn out right they rarely go back and look at all the doors He opened, all the situations He changed, all the ways he guided them and all the blessings He poured out on them. So we become quick to question His goodness when something goes wrong or even not as expected, but we aren't so quick to see His amazing goodness when something good, whether small or big, happens to us.
All my life growing up I've heard people take verses, or snippets of verses, and use them to fit certain situations....I'm sure at one time or another I was even guilty of this. We even use them to teach on. But unless you are teaching out of Proverbs, its really hard to just take a single verse and use it without understanding the context behind it. We have to look at the verses before and after the verse...understanding the entire message God was trying to convey to us. And so today I take yet another snippet of a verse that is often misquoted and want bring more light to it. We hear "God will make good out of a bad situation", and even though I do believe that everything about God IS good therefore He does want bring good into bad situations, I don't think we can take this verse and say "we make it where God always is able to". Romans 8:28 is where this comes from and the verse actually says "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." So what is this verse really saying? Does God make bad out of good, or not? Well again, yes, God wants to make good out of every bad situation, but you have to align your life in a way that enables Him to be able to do so. The verse actually says "..to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose". Another translation says "...and are called according to His purpose for them". So we have to go back to the understanding that God knows what His purpose is for us. He knows if changing a situation in our life is going to be good for the purpose He has called us to. This means we may have to endure some suffering to build us up to the place He wants us to be. It also means it may be a while before "the good" that comes out of the situations can be seen. It's all about His timing and keeping ourselves lined up with His will for us. IF we do this, we are enabling God to take things that seem bad to in the eyes of the world, and teach us, strengthen us and build up our faith. It gives us a chance to say "I may not see the good in this right now, but I trust you...and I know in time you will show me".
God does not cause bad in our life. He also does not bail us out of every situation we get ourselves into. However, He will help us when the enemy brings bad into our life that was outside of our doing. He LOVES us and doesn't want to see us suffer, but He can and will use those times to allow us to see His goodness if we will open our hearts and eyes up to see Him in all situations.
If you want to see God make good out of bad in your life, then line yourself up with Him and trust Him. Don't tell Him what that has to look like or when it has to happen....just honor Him with your unconditional love and trust!
God, thank You that You have given us every reason to always trust You. Holy Spirit help us not allow the enemy to bring doubt into our lives when the days look dark, but to just trust God and be patient. Then allow others to see us honor Him in this way and bring glory to His name. In Jesus name, Amen
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