Sometimes we just can't see the good in the things that happen to us that on the surface appear to have no merit. We go through trials and hardships or events of misfortune and think there will never be a time to look back on this event as the precursor to a very positive turn or the beginning of something good. It is only in retrospect that we can attempt to see a residual event or circumstance revealed as being possible due to this seemingly negative situation we found ourselves in.
An example for this would be my early college years. During my time in highschool I had not thought college was even a possibility for me. My grades weren't all that great and I never put myself at the intellectual level of my Honor Roll friends. I saw myself going the route of vocational school until my highschool went out of business in the summer of my senior year. So, right there, on the surface many of my friends as well as myself saw this as a bad thing. For one, the school we had attended and become connected to was no more. Many of my friends would go to summer school in order to graduate with a diploma from our now defunct school. Others would go to a public school and finish there. As for myself and a good number of my friends, we went to another private school that was similar to our own. Both of our schools would share highschool dances so many of us knew one another. The only thing with me was I was required to go to summer school because unlike my old school, this school offered only one type of diploma, an academic diploma which is the one required for college admission. So, I went to summer school for a language and advanced algebra.
The blessing was still not apparent for me. Sometime in my senior year, my class was to attend SAT testing at Granby highschool. Before my original school went out of business, I had no intention of taking the SAT. Now it is a requirement of the new school I attended. So I took the test. Before taking the test, it asks you to name three colleges you would like to attend. I said UVA, William and Mary, and Virginia Wesleyan, all as a lark.
Sometimes the event is one of adversity. An illness, a loss of a job, a church facing a declining membership, a trying time for a marriage and a family. When adversity comes to us we often think, "What have I done wrong?" "Why is God punishing me?" But this is wrong thinking! Adversity can be our greatest motivation for spiritual growth or our deadliest means of discouragement. The difference depends upon our understanding of God's purposes through adversity.
Joseph, the favored son of Jacob in the Old Testament, endured many things at the hand of his brothers. His brothers were jealous because their father favored him and gave him a special coat of many colors. Few of us have known the level of betrayal and suffering that he knew as a result. Worse yet, Joseph had dreams that seemed to suggest that God also favored him. The brothers grew to hate this "dreamer" who dared to believe that God had a special plan for his life.
His brothers grew jealous and at one point tore the special coat from his body, threw him in a dry well, and sold him to the Egyptians as a slave. As if this were not enough he suffered a false rape accusation after spurning the advances of Potiphers wife, and he was thrown into the Pharaoh's prison where he languished for another seven years. These chain of events would be seen as a curse in the eyes of anyone who lived it except Joseph. He had a gift from God of interpreting dreams and upon interpreting the dreams of a couple of his cell mates he gained the attention of the Pharaoh who called him to interpret a dream of his in which a great famine was revealed. Joseph showed no resentment or anger towards the injustices he had suffered and in turn was made second in command in Egypt and in charge of gathering the stores for the coming famine. During the famine, his own father and brothers came to receive food as a matter of suvival. In all, over 21 years had passed. Joseph had the opportunity to scorn his brothers and show them what had become of the brother they had tried to kill. But this was not what Joseph did at all. He looked to them, gave them food, and spoke the verse we all should hold to our heart in times of trouble, pain, and adversity. To their surprise and relief Joseph said to them, "You meant evil against me but God meant it for good..." (Genesis 50:20-21). He had been enlightened to see the blessings and the purpose in all that had taken place.
Does this mean that every tragedy we experience has a silver lining? That all evil is really good, and that all our suffering is somehow being orchestrated by God?
Not at all.
The world is full of senseless violence, horrifying hatred and a whole range of actions and attitudes that attempt to thwart the will of God.
It would be bad theology to assert that the Lord is orchestrating all this evil, as the tension of life builds toward some grand and glorious ending. But one thing that both the Old and the New Testaments teach us is that God has the power to transform human evil into divine good.
As we journey through difficult times in our lives, God often by his grace turns those difficult times into blessings that come in our future. His promise to us is that all things will work together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. This theme comes to us in a number of different places in the scriptures. (Romans 8:20)
No comments:
Post a Comment