Wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, a pandemic, senseless deaths, ongoing rioting, murder hornets and meteors. If you go by the headlines, 2020 feels like one long year of “Very Bad Things.” But in the midst of all the bad news, I have some good news for you – God turns very bad things into very good things.
Genesis records the story of a young man named Joseph, whose brothers hated him so much they trapped him in a pit and planned to kill him. Some slave traders were passing by, so instead they sold him into slavery to get rid of him. He worked hard for his master and was ultimately rewarded with a position of responsibility, only to be falsely accused of wrongdoing and jailed. Without anyone to advocate for him, Joseph languished in jail, forgotten about even by those who said they would help him. But God had not forgotten Joseph. He was moving him into the exact position He wanted him in at the exact time he needed to be there.
Joseph became the second in command of all of Egypt and saved countless people from dying of famine because he was willing to listen to what God had to say about the future. He was in the palace the day his brothers came to beg for food. And instead of payback for all the very bad things he had endured, Joseph showed them mercy. Compassion. Forgiveness. When he revealed who he was to his brothers, he said, You were out to destroy me, but God turned it all into good (Genesis 50:20).
Two thousand years later, Jesus’ brethren set out to destroy Him. Their actions led to the Cross. But the Bible says the Cross was God’s plan from the beginning, that it is the only means by which a lost and starving people can be saved (Ephesians 1:5).
God works ALL things together into His plans for good (Romans 8:28). He doesn’t just make the best of a bad situation. No. He makes good – He redeems – what was evil. Restores what was broken. Rescues what was lost.
All of that goodness is costly to God. The price was the life of His only beloved Son. I’m certain our sin sorrows Him to this day. So why does He do it? Why does He keep making good out of very bad things? It would be so much easier to say – They deserve what they get. Or They’re more trouble than they’re worth. Or They’re just going to mess up again anyway.
The only answer I can see is just this – because He loves us. Because for some inconceivable, incomprehensible reason He says we’re worth it. “Others died that you might live. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you” (Isaiah 43:4). That is a very good thing.