God Uses It All for Your Good

“There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. . . . When your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter 1:6–7 (NLT) What I'm learning is that life is not a series of random accidents. Life isn’t unplanned. It isn’t without meaning. God knows what’s going on. In fact, he’s using every part of my life—the happy times and the difficult ones—to weave my story into a beautiful tapestry. A a child of God, nothing can come into my life without God’s permission.  Everything is Father‑filtered.  Not everything that happens to me is God’s perfect will. That’s just not true. When I sin, that’s not God’s will. When somebody sins against me, that’s not God’s perfect will either. But God does have a permissive will. He allows some things without causing them. For example, when I overeat, I become unhealthy and do not feel well. God does not cause that, but he does allow it. In the same way, God does not cause evil and God does not cause suffering. But he does allow them—and then he uses them. How does God use evil and suffering? What I'm learning is that He’s an expert at bringing good out of bad! He could have kept Paul out of prison in Philippi, but instead he let Paul go to prison and the jailer became a believer as a result. God could have kept Jesus from the cross, but he let him suffer and die—and because of that, the gift of salvation is available to all who believe!   God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections.  The things I most wish were removed from my life are often the very things that God is using to shape me into who he wants me to be.  The Bible promises, “There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. . . . When your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:6–7 NLT). God wants to use my biggest problem for my greatest good. Even when I'm in pain, I can look beyond it and trust that God is in control. The apostle Paul said it like this, “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:16–17 NLT). In summary: Life is not random or unplanned, but that God uses every experience—both the good and the bad—to shape my life into something meaningful. While not everything that happens is God's perfect will, God permits certain things, including suffering and evil, and then uses them for good. God is an expert at bringing good from bad, For example Paul’s imprisonment and Jesus’ crucifixion, where negative circumstances led to positive outcomes. He encourages believers to trust that even in pain, God is in control and is using our struggles to produce lasting glory. Ultimately, my faith through trials will lead to joy and honor when Christ is revealed.