The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

09/25/2004

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? I’m not really sure, but after a lengthy discussion while sitting by the beautiful shores of Lake Tahoe with my brother, I wanted to look into this a little bit deeper.

How does God view Leukemia or cancer of any kind? How does He view car accidents, lost jobs, bankruptcy or even abuse? Does God simply allow these things in our lives, or does God cause them to happen? Age old questions with probably no real definite answers but I’m stepping out here, willing to take a closer look at it all anyway… just because we may learn something along the way.

We all love the “good,” don’t we? It can be fun, exciting, exhilarating, and bring us such happiness. We love it when someone has good news to share with us! Bring it on! We can all use a dose of good news! But what about the bad and the ugly news? What about those times when the news is of a bad medical report or a horrific car accident? What if a child has been abducted and the tales of that abduction are very ugly… what then? How are we supposed to react? What are we supposed to do? What do we think of God “allowing” such things to happen in our lives or in the world around us?

In reading Joel this morning, it said, “The Lord says, ‘I will give you back what you lost to the stripping locusts, the cutting locusts, the swarming locusts, and the hopping locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.’” (2:25 NLT)

What do we think about that? The Lord said He sent the “great destroying army”? Does that mean that God sent the Leukemia that took my child’s life? Does that mean that God sent the car accident that paralyzed someone’s body, or the bankruptcy that destroyed a person’s plans for a future? What kind of a god would that be? Could that possibly come from a God who loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us? It doesn’t seem to match up, does it?

I’m thinking about this here…I can see that God allowed Satan to do certain things in Job’s life as a test of his faithfulness. I can see that…but what if we take it one step further as my brother and I did in our discussion and say God not only “allows” these things in our lives but also causes them at times? Or is it even “at times,” perhaps it is all the time? Can we possibly love and trust a god that would do that?

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:8-11(NLT),

“I am no longer sorry that I sent that letter to you, though I was sorry for a time, for I know that it was painful to you for a little while. Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to have remorse and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. For God can use sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek salvation. We will never regret that kind of sorrow. But sorrow without repentance is the kind that results in death. Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you!”

We have seen God use bad situations by doing mighty works for His kingdom through them! We could talk about that all day and come up with many testimonies of things like that happening. Most of us know God’s promise in Romans 8:28, “…that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” We have heard that many times. Sometimes we like hearing it because it encourages us through the hard times. Sometimes we don’t like hearing it because we can see no good in the situations we find ourselves in. What good can come from a child’s death? From abuse? From hunger?

But once again, in taking this even a step further and not getting caught up here in the good that will come from the bad for those that “love God,” let’s move on to where the bad comes from and then even further to… is it really bad in God’s eyes?

This is a stretch for me. I’ve always thought of cancer as bad. It’s a terrible disease that takes our loved ones from us. I am especially sensitive to Leukemia, since that is the “terrible disease” that took my son! I view it as evil, as a horrible thing, as something that we need to find a cure for as quickly as possible before it “steals” more lives! But, how does God view it? Does He view it as “darkness” or, as I’m coming to think about it, as a “tool?” An instrument that is used for His eternal purposes. “For God can use sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek salvation.”

We all know there is darkness in this world. It may be a bright, sunshiny day but our hearts can still be very dark, very heavy and depressed. What is that? We may be surrounded by people who love us and who we love, but still we can seem to be alone in some sort of darkness and not even know the reason why. We can understand the night and the darkness it contains--the sun has set and we must wait a few hours for it to come back, but how can there be such darkness during the day? It must be something more than what we can actually see with our eyes that is causing this darkness.

The Bible says we are fighting against, “evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12 NLT)

So in reading this, we know that there’s a lot going on that we can’t see and that can affect our moods, our actions and even life and death situations. Are these physical and emotional conditions a bad thing, or are they simply tools that are being used to bring people to a place of knowing Jesus?

The question I’m really trying to get to the bottom of is, “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?”

We view Jesus’ death as horrific. Anyone who has seen “The Passion of the Christ” can attest to that fact. It was hard to watch. It was brutal. It was sad. We view it as “bad.” But how does God view it?

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?

Did our Father God simply allow it to happen or did He cause it to happen because it was the best way to get the job done? Do we really think if there were an easier way, if God could have spared His Son that agony, He wouldn’t have done it? If you have ever watched your child die, you will never think of the death of God’s Son quite the same way again… I have to believe if there was an easier way of saving our souls God would have done it. But He 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.

This may come across as cold and heartless but if we can think of the bad things that happen in our lives as not being bad but simply an instrument or a tool in God’s hands that He uses to get the job done, maybe there is some peace in that.  Of course is no darkness in Him ( 1 John 1:5 NLT), that is true, but what if Satan is simply a tool called darkness and God is able to use even that destructive tool to bring about good? God reaches out with His mighty hand, and the tool called Satan can be used to tweak, tighten, hammer and adjust us until we are in the shape that God desires. Satan has no power of his own; he has only what God gives to him to use.

In a toolbox you may have a hammer, a screwdriver a wrench etc… they all have their jobs to do. Some pound, some turn to tighten or loosen, some squeeze, some grab and pull, some wedge, some separate, some check for the flow of electricity. We could go on and on but they are all tools that help to repair or build or even tear down what is old and rusty before rebuilding something new and shiny. Are any of these tool’s classified as “bad” or are they simply instruments used to get the job done?

If Satan is controlled by God, which he is even as much as he would like to fight against it because Satan is merely a fallen angel, then he is not on his own. 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. Satan may hate this, but he is only a tool in the Mighty Hand of God, nothing more. He will be crushed and thrown into the burning fire when God is finished with him! It seems that what God allows him to do now is not as much “bad” as it is in the perfect plan of God to refocus our attention where it should be. Satan probably thinks he is having a hay-day. He thinks he is free to roam the earth and cause destruction in our lives, steal our joy, even kill our physical bodies. What he might be ignorant of is that he is merely a pawn… a pawn that is used by God to do God’s will. What Satan sees as bad, and what we seem to think is bad, may not be bad to God. It may simply be a refocusing tool used to get our attention on our Savior, on Who controls this world, on Who created it and on Whom we should be worshipping above all else.

Leukemia is awful! I’m just picking on this one disease because it is a personal one to me. Fill in the blank with your own illness, accident, or horrific event in your life that you think is awful too. It is!! There’s no denying that these things hurt, that they are devastating, that they seem unfair and untimely and we wish they never had to be! That is easy for all of us to agree upon, right?! But now that we have settled that, what else are they? They are God’s plan for our lives or the lives of our loved ones. They are neither bad, nor good, nor anything in between. They simply are, and God uses them to His advantage to help us…yes, help us although it may not seem so at the time.

If you have an old bookcase that needs to be refurbished, you get out the tool box and start to pull out old rusty nails, hammer in some new fresh ones, sand the rough spots out, putty up some holes, strip off the old varnish and after all that pounding and sanding and puttying it’s time for a fresh coat of stain and varnish to make it look new again. If you were to ask the old bookcase if it wanted to be redone, it would probably say, “No. I’m quite comfortable with the way I am.” But of course that is silly because we don’t even stop to think about asking an inanimate object whether we should change it or not. We just do what we choose to do with it.

We are not inanimate objects, and God does not think of us that way either. But, we are His children, He is the Potter and we are the clay. We do need His 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!

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

That’s why He constantly has His toolbox out and is working on us. Sometimes He pulls out the soft cloth and wipes us clean, and it doesn’t hurt much at all. Sometimes He pulls out the devil and we feel the pounding and the sanding and the pulling out of things in our lives and that part can be very painful. God doesn’t see these things as bad things, but just things. Things that need to be done in our sanctification process.

Was Phil getting Leukemia a bad thing, or was it merely part of a sanctification process? Was that motorcycle accident that killed a father of three a bad thing or was it a sanctification process for his family? Was Joni Ericksen Tada’s diving accident that paralyzed her a bad thing or was it part of her sanctification process? We view them as bad things and we probably always will, and that is okay. I believe God understands that about us. He knows we have been hurt, He knows it is hard, and He knows we probably don’t like it one bit. But as far as God is concerned, I think it’s very different. He knows exactly what He is doing, exactly what we all need, and He will not stop short of perfection when it comes to our lives—even at the cost of His only Son’s life. In Jesus’ life, in His death and His resurrection, we have been made holy for all time.

In all things we can grow and learn and move up to higher ground in our relationship with our Savior, or 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. By being bitter and angry it won’t stop the bad from happening but it will stop the “tools” from being used in a mighty way for the Kingdom of God.

Do you know how mad it must make Satan when he is given the “power” by God to cause an illness or accident or a job loss or any other “bad” thing in our lives and it backfires on him? Can you imagine the devil’s frustration when we take the bad things and see them as doing some good in our lives and as a result, we grow closer to our Lord and use it as a testimony to God’s healing and restorative power instead of allowing it to crush us? Can you delight in the fact that God is beaming with pride over the child who turns their eyes heavenward and praises and thanks Him for His goodness after the tools that have been used in a person’s life have hurt deeply? What must the devil think then?

In Psalm 139:12b it says, “Darkness and light are both alike to you.” (NLT)

Does this mean that the hammer that pounds us is no “darker” than the cloth is “lighter” as it applies new varnish to our lives? Is it all the same to God, simply different tools to do the different jobs that need to be done? Is the Leukemia that took our son’s life merely a tool, as is the million dollars that someone else may have won that will mold and shape their lives? Are both brought to us by God, who loves us? Is one a curse and the other a blessing?

What if… the million dollars is the curse? Ever think of that? Ever heard of lives being destroyed because of sudden wealth and the confusion that it causes? Ever heard of families being split apart because of money squabbles? Does the money bring them true joy? Does it bring them into a closer relationship with their Savior? Do they find the true meaning of life through their winnings? Perhaps so, perhaps not.

What if… the Leukemia is the blessing? Ever think of that? Ever heard of lives being blessed because of a death and the clarity that it brings to those that are left behind? Ever heard of families being brought closer together because of the pain they have had to endure? Does the death bring them to a place of finding true joy by bringing them into a closer relationship with their Savior? Do they find the true meaning of life through another’s death? Perhaps so, perhaps not.

Which one is the curse?
Which one is the blessing?
Or are they both merely tools that God uses to mold and shape our lives?
Is one filled with darkness while the other is filled with light?
Which one would that be?

In a book I just read called, “Dangerous Wonder” by Michael Yaconelli, he wrote about John the Baptist being in prison. John was hearing stories about Jesus healing the blind, the lepers, and the crippled, and yet he remained in prison. It says, “He sent his people to Jesus to get some answers. And Jesus sent back a very strange message, ‘Hey, John. You are exactly right. The blind are seeing, the lame are walking, the lepers are cured, the deaf can now hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are hearing the good news.’ Jesus was saying, in effect, “Yes, I am the Messiah. Yes, I am healing the sick and raising the dead. And, no, I am not getting you out of prison. Life is complicated, John.”

He then went on to say a little further down, “But John was left in prison with one terrifying truth—the Jesus who can rescue you is the one you can trust even when you’re not rescued… Jesus proved Himself by leaving John in prison. Go figure.”

Go figure… some are healed from Leukemia through prayer, some are healed through chemotherapy, probably supported by prayer, some die, being left in “prison” even though Jesus could heal them in an instant if it was His will. “Go figure…life is complicated.” Does this mean we trust less, are cursed, or that God used the “tool” incorrectly? I don’t believe so. I believe the tool was used perfectly by the greatest Craftsman ever, but life and death are complicated issues that we will not fully understand until we meet our Savior face to face.

Referring to a “Dangerous Wonder” one last time, he writes, “Death is only the second to the last word. It is not the last word. Yes, John, your upside-down life may be coming to an end, but even death is not the end.”

Death is only a tool at this point in our world. It is not the end to those who believe in Jesus Christ. That is why God used His One and only Son to conquer death, so we need not fear it. God’s Son repaired what was broken, our relationship with our Father in Heaven. 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.

What is good? God is good!

What is bad? Is it merely a tool?

What is ugly? Only that which we view through our own eyes and not through the eyes of our Lord and Savior.

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”
Ephesians 1:18 (NIV)

Still pondering here,

Diane