Bad Things Turn Out Good

Since the pending but apparent outcome of last week’s election, there seems to be a black pall hanging over a huge red swath of America—like dark, black crepe over a 19th-century funeral bier. Although there was far less consequence attached, it reminded me of another time I felt that hanging pall. I had been preaching a revival at a church in a state that heavily invested and engaged itself in its college’s football. The church was full of fanatic football fans. During that meeting, the church took Saturday as a rest night. Some were relieved for that; they could watch that night’s football game. But, their team lost. Badly. An important game. I remember the morning after. I was standing outside the church as people began to drive on the lot for Sunday morning worship. They got slowly out of their cars as if they were especially encumbered with burdens. Their eyes were downcast. I remember one brother who had been exuberantly and ebulliently talkative the previous services. He barely returned a greeting and was cloaked in silence. This morning, I sense a darker cloud thickly draped over conservative believers in the aftermath of the past week. More than heavy despair, there is frustration, anger, and even doubt of God. From the conservative Christian perspective, things have turned out bad. And since things have turned out bad, as someone asked me, "How can we possibly believe that God is in control?". How? Because when things turn out bad, God is still sovereign. Before we get into that, there is a reality that backward reflection brings: Things turning out good have often, in the end, turned out bad. And, things turning out bad have often, in the end, turned out good. We often say things have turned out good when they turn out the way we want them to, the way we desire or think they should. Conversely, we say things have turned out badly when they do not turn out the way we desire or think they should. But there is something in play other than what we desire—the sovereignty of God. We make the mistake of assuming God isn’t in control because the outcome was not what we so vehemently desired. This fallacy can only lead to despair and doubt. Believing in God’s sovereignty is to believe that however bad things appear to have turned out that God is still in control. God’s being in control indicates God has a purpose in everything that happens. One simply does not control something without a purpose for doing so. God’s having a purpose indicates that God has a plan. Even when things turn out bad, God still has a plan. In fact, things turning out bad works right into His plan. Fortunate for us, God’s plan is always for the good of His people (and, inseparably, for His glory). Thus, God is not only still in control, He is still working all things according to His plan towards the fulfillment of His purpose. We are told this in a familiar story in the Bible’s first book. There’s no space for the details, but things kept turning out bad for Joseph until the bad things turned out good. Of being sold into slavery by his brothers to being left to rot in prison—bad things all—Joseph said, “You planned these things for evil against me, but God used those plans for good.” Bad things turned out good. Even when the bad things are happening, God is in control. The last book Revelation is really about this very thing. It’s not about all those minute prophetical details folks like to put on an eschatological chart. It’s about God’s being sovereign. God is in control when things are bad, at their worst—as they one day will be. Here’s what we see in Revelation: “The dark forces will advance so far, but no farther.” “Horrible times will go on this long, but not longer.” “Many will die, but no more.” “The enemy has this much power, but far less than God.” Everything happens only within the parameters God has allowed. Everything turns out the way God has it planned and says it will. I’m not saying that bad things are good. I believe with millions of others that what’s happening in our country is bad, horrible for America. Yet, this is all a part of God’s larger plan. Something good. I have no space to get into the theodicies but had there been no horrible Holocaust, there would be no state of Israel, the safe home of millions of Jews today. Things may not have turned out as we would have planned. But they have just as God planned them. There are times when it appears that evil is victoriously advancing and good is dismally retreating. Yet, God is in control. Things are not as they seem. Think of this rough illustration that we see in scripture and throughout military history. The army of the good guys sets up ambush forces on opposite sides of a narrow valley leading to the enemy's entrenched position. Then it sends a small force to engage and attack that enemy. It fights for a period of time and then begins to retreat as though defeated. The enemy, assuming they are winning, abandons their fortified position of safety in pursuit. The good guys retreat in an apparent panic until the pursuing enemy force is completely in the middle of the valley flanked on both sides by the hidden forces of the good guys. Then the retreating good-guys battalion whirls and faces the enemy as the good-guy forces hidden on opposite sides of the valley rise from their cover and close in upon the enemy like the jaws of a shark. The enemy is annihilated. The point is this: Things looked like the enemy was winning. The enemy thought they were winning. It looked like the good guys had been routed and would soon be squashed and massacred. But, all along, the good guys were in control of the field. Everything like clockwork took place as they had planned. It may look like evil is winning. It may appear that good is in retreat. But, in the end, all things are working exactly as God has planned. He is fully in control of the field. Bible readers, remember Haman ended up swinging by the neck on the gallows that he built for Mordecai. Things rarely work out the way we plan and would have them. Things always work out just as God plans them and would have them. For His glory. For our good. This "game" will be won! Bad things will turn out good.