How God Uses Bad And Evil

Can God use evil people, painful circumstances, and bad decisions for His purposes? Yes. That does not mean God approves of evil. It means evil is never outside His control.

I was reading: “But Assyria’s king doesn’t understand that I am using him; he doesn’t know he is a tool for me. He only wants to destroy other people and to defeat many nations.” (Isaiah 10:7 NCV)

The king of Assyria had no desire to serve God. He was motivated by pride, power, and destruction. Yet God was using him to accomplish a purpose he could not even see.

That tells us something that I think is important to remember: God can use people who do not know Him, circumstances we do not understand, and even painful events we would never choose - for our good.

Joseph learned that lesson. After his brothers betrayed him and sold him into slavery, many years later, he later said:

“You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people.” (Genesis 50:20 NCV) Remember - many years later …

Joseph did not call their actions good. He called them evil. But God used what they did.

I can look back over my own life and see some of this. My Dad split up our family. Later, I split up our family. I’ve had cancer. Three of my five family members died unexpectedly from cancer. And there have been plenty of other pains, sins, failures, and troubles along the way.

But here is what I’ve learned: if I ask God to help me see and understand, He can use those things to grow me, change me, and humble me before Him and before people I’ve wronged. He will cause good to come from it. Can you trust that?

Now let me say, this does not make the pain good. It means the pain does not have to be wasted.

I once heard someone say, “We don’t have bad days; we have learning days.” Maybe that sounds strange when you are right in the middle of suffering, but there is truth in it.

Pain teaches. Failure can humble us. Rejection can redirect us. Sickness can remind us how precious life is. Trouble can reveal things in us that comfort never would. Death should cause us to live full. We are alive now for a reason.

James wrote: “When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience.” (James 1:2–3 NCV) You have to dig deep on some days.

And Paul quotes one of the most popular verses: “We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him.” (Romans 8:28 NCV)

It does not say everything that happens is good. It says God can work through everything for good.

Here’s the truth, sometimes you cannot see what God is doing while you are in it. You simply trust that He will see you through it. So let me ask you again: “Can you trust God in the pain?”

So maybe the question is not only, “Why is this happening to me?” Maybe we should also ask: “Lord, what are You trying to teach me? What needs to change in me? What do I need to own? And how can You use this for good?”

Pain can teach us. Trouble can shape us. Sin can humble us when we repent. And even evil cannot stop the purposes of God. My knee (and now my leg) is “killing me” on a huge trip we are taking now for 15 days -

LORD, show me You in this frustrating pain please. I know you will show up. I just know. IJNIP amen ♥️

(Wendy and I on our balcony - Norway)