The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The suffering you sent was good for me,
for it taught me to pay attention to your principles.
Psalm 119:71 (NLT)

We see the good, the bad and the ugly almost every day we live. We see the good in our situations, the bad in a more trying situation and the ugly in the worst situations in our lives. We see it...but is that how God sees it? Does God have a good, a bad and an ugly way of looking at things?

We have seen God use bad situations by doing mighty works for His kingdom through them. Let’s move on to where the bad comes from and then even further to...is it really bad in God’s eyes? To God, are the circumstances in our lives merely instruments, "tools", that are used for His eternal purposes? Are these bad things really bad, or do we as human beings just classify them that way because of the difficulty they bring into our lives and the sadness that can be left in their aftermath?

Did God view the death of His one and only Son as "bad," or as a tool that was used as an instrument of healing and salvation—a way to bring His people back to Him? This doesn’t mean it was easy, it doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt and that there wasn’t a lot of sadness involved, but was it "bad" in God’s eyes? Our Father knew what needed to be done and He spared no expense, not even the life of His Son, to do it. Jesus and His death were the "instruments" required for this very difficult job.

Satan is merely a fallen angel. He is not allowed to do anything that God does not allow him to do and anything that he brings into our lives such as illness, accidents, even death, are in God’s control. It seems that what God allows him to do is not as much "bad" as it is in the perfect plan of God to refocus our attention where it should be - on Who controls this world - on Who created it and on Whom we should be worshipping above all else.

We do need God’s discipline and His instruction and His correction and molding and shaping in our lives. Otherwise, we would end up in disrepair, worn out, run down, confused, dull and lifeless, and ready for the junkyard. God doesn’t want that for us! He has much greater plans for our lives! He knows exactly what He is doing. We can choose to become angry, confused, bitter and resentful of all the bad things that have happened to us and be destroyed by them, but being bitter and angry won’t stop the bad from happening. What it may do is stop God’s "tools" from being used in a mighty way for good.

The Cross seemed so very dark to those who were there, but in that darkness our Father saw a great light. What the enemy meant for harm was not "harm" in God’s eyes but instead saving grace...things backfired on the enemy once again as the tool of the crucifixion of Jesus was used for good to those who will believe in God’s perfect plan.