3 Reasons God Allows Bad Things to Pass Through His Hands
By Ashley Moore
I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things. - Isaiah 45:7, ESV
"I know this doesn't sound like a praise, but..."
Our friends repeated this phrase throughout our small group time, as couples shared how their recent trials had led them to discover unexpected blessings and life lessons.
I’m wondering if you, too, are familiar with how God can use really hard things to bring about something good in your life.
Has a scary diagnosis given you a renewed gratitude for each day?
Perhaps the memory of months that you struggled to pay the power bill now prompts you to donate to families in need regularly.
Maybe God used an unrepented sin to draw you closer to Christian accountability and fellowship.
These are all hard things to go through, but each of these occurrences ultimately allowed an opportunity for God to cultivate good growth in us.
Verses like our key verse, grate against our understanding of God. We know that God is good, so shouldn't His goodness keep us safe and our lives free of bad circumstances? And don’t get me wrong, I’m not negating the goodness of God. But our good God also allows darkness and calamity to pass through His hands. Most of the time, for reasons beyond our understanding.
But there are also places in the Scriptures that hint as to why our good God allows bad things to happen to His people:
CONSEQUENCES
God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with one commandment to follow. He said that they could eat from any tree in the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and He warned them that the consequence of breaking this commandment would be death (Genesis 2:16-17). Several verses later we read that Eve and Adam took the forbidden fruit ate of it and disobeyed God (Genesis 3:6-7).
When the first man and woman disobeyed God, they invited sin into the good world God made and we all still face the consequences of that decision. On this side of Christ's sacrifice, our sin is atoned for, but the consequence remains. We all will taste death because God’s Word says that the payment of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sometimes the calamity we face is a byproduct of the bad choices we have made or the bad choices of others inflicted onto us. While God often pads the severity of our consequences, He does not always protect us from or prevent the blow from the consequences of our choices. As we wait for perfection to return for all eternity we must bear the brokenness of this world, as a consequence of going against God’s original design.
DISCIPLINE
Another reason we may experience darkness and calamity in this life despite being God’s people, is because God disciplines His children. Hebrews 12:6 says, the Lord disciplines the one he loves and he chastises every son whom he receives. As a parent, I realize that allowing my kids to do whatever they want no matter how dangerous it is to their well-being is not loving. Out of love for them and to protect them from harming themselves, I discipline and correct them. Often the correction is painful for them, and they don't particularly like it. Likewise, sometimes God will allow hard things to happen to us because we need to be corrected or redirected back onto His path for us. This doesn’t always feel good, but it is always the best thing for us!
HIS GLORY
The final reason God allows calamity to pass through His hand is for His glory. The reason my friends were able to praise God for the hard things happening in their lives was because the darkness around them highlighted God’s power and presence in their life. I don’t love that it works like this, but oftentimes it is much easier to see the light of Christ when we are engulfed in the darkness of life’s trials. God allows calamity because it causes His people to notice, praise, acknowledge, and desire His glory!
Lord, we praise you today because you are powerful over darkness and light, good and evil. As my pastor says, the enemy of our soul is on a leash. There is only so far you allow his power to impact us. But Lord, your power has no end. Your love for us is steadfast. Thank You for using even the difficult things in our lives, the consequences of our sins, and our failures, to bring You glory and increase our joy. We praise You for protecting us from the worst consequence we could endure, eternal separation from You. Lord, we long to see your glory perfectly for all eternity one day. While we wait, I pray we would praise you despite the calamity of living in a broken world.
Photo Credit: ©SWN
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Originally published Friday, 25 August 2023.
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