The Good, the Bad, and the Glory

Despite the cheesy title, this is not a cheesy post. In fact, it's pretty serious. Looking over the past few weeks I've heard about marriages and divorces, miscarriages and births, sick babies and healthy babies, new houses, destructive storms, new jobs and funerals, in other words "the good and the bad." Is there a plan behind all this? Are these things random or purposeful?

The truth of God's word is the only thing that will help us here. God sovereignly directs all things: "He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to Him, 'What are You doing?'" (Dan. 4:35). He directs all things according to His purpose: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28). So everything that happens has a purpose. God directs not just the "big" things, but also the "little" things; not just the "good" things, but also the "bad" things. All the big and little events, all the good and bad events are all sovereignly heading to one very big and very good purpose.

So what is this purpose? Well, I am not a theologian in the professional sense and am pretty limited in knowledge, but I believe that it is God's glory. Definitely our sanctification is involved in this process, but it is to God's glory that it all points.

Whoa, isn't that a little self-serving of God, to glorify Himself? No!
God doesn't need our attention or our praise. He is serving us by drawing our attention to Himself - the only pure, most beautiful, only true, and completely selfless person there is. We will find peace and joy only when our gaze is fixed on Him. Sometimes something little focuses my attention on God, sometimes something big is required. Sometimes I glorify God because of something good, sometimes it is something bad that reminds me of His glory.

Now I'm not trying to downplay the pain that comes with some of the difficult events of life. I'm just saying that God plans and uses even that intense pain for a good and godly purpose. The joy of a newborn and the pain of a lost loved one work together in His hands to make a beautiful and glorious purpose. I don't understand it all, and sometimes I don't even feel like it's true, but my understanding and my feelings don't change it (thank God), but are instead slowly and surely molded by it.

In an already long post, let me just give two quick examples from Scripture. In Acts 6:8 - 8:4, the story of Stephen the first Christian matyr is told. Stephen was a godly servant, a real gift to the early church and a man full of wisdom and courage. He was, however, stoned just as the church was beginning. It must have seemed like a terrible loss, completely without purpose or reason to the friends who mourned him. We then find out that Stephen's death initiated violent persecution of the early church (another "bad" event) which scattered the young church all over the area. How could God let this happen? But as we read on, having the helpful perspective of hindsight, we find out that this scattering of Christians actually spread the gospel of Christ all over the area. God's glory spread as many men and women heard the gospel for the first time.

Secondly, in Galatians, Paul gives us a brief retelling of his conversion. Few would doubt that the conversion of Paul the greatest persecuter of the church and vehement supporter of Stephen's stoning would be a "good" event. Did this good event happen to honor Paul or help out a young church. No, Paul is clear about the ultimate purpose of his conversion in Galatians 1:24, "And they glorified God because of me."

So maybe I should change the title of this post. Not just because it is cheesy, but because it is inaccurate. Are there really any bad things? There are certainly sad events, but when all things are orchestrated to His good purpose can we call them "bad"? Maybe it should be "The Good, the 'boy it sure seems bad to me, but I'm believing by faith it will turn out for good', and the Glory" - more accurate, but a little long, don't you think?