God Uses It All for Your Good
By Rick Warren
“There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. . . . When your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NLT)
Life is not a series of random accidents. Life isn’t unplanned. It isn’t without meaning. God knows what’s going on. In fact, he’s using every part of your life—the happy times and the difficult ones—to weave your story into a beautiful tapestry.
If you’re a child of God, nothing can come into your life without God’s permission. Everything is Father‑filtered.
Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that everything that happens to you is God’s perfect will. That’s just not true. When you sin, that’s not God’s will. When somebody sins against you, that’s not God’s perfect will either.
But God does have a permissive will. In other words, he allows some things without causing them. For example, if I overeat, I may become unhealthy and not feel well. God does not cause that, but he does allow it. In the same way, God does not cause evil and God does not cause suffering. But he does allow them—and then he uses them.
How does God use evil and suffering? He’s an expert at bringing good out of bad! He could have kept Paul out of prison in Philippi, but instead he let Paul go to prison and the jailer became a believer as a result. God could have kept Jesus from the cross, but he let him suffer and die—and because of that, the gift of salvation is available to all who believe!
God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections. The things you most wish were removed from your life are often the very things that God is using to shape you into who he wants you to be.
The Bible promises, “There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. . . . When your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT).
God wants to use your biggest problem for your greatest good. Even when you’re in pain, you can look beyond it and trust that God is in control.
The apostle Paul said it like this, “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17 NLT).
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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