Evil--Is It Good Or Bad?
The apostle Paul, after going through ship-wreck, persecution, and years of hardship in starting the Christian Church in many areas of Asia Minor, wrote these words: “I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel…” (Phil. 1:12)
Paul was writing from prison. Was he happy to be there? No, he didn’t say that. What he said was simply that because of his afflictions, some good things had come out of them, and then he named them: “the praetorian guard knew that his imprisonment was for Christ; the brethren had been made a bit more confident in the Lord, because of his imprisonment, and they were more bold to speak the word of the Lord.”
Can we ever say that evil is good? No, but it is possible to say that “out of evil, good can come.” Because God made our world, He made it good, but in order to give us the freedom to choose, He had to make a world in which we could learn from our sins and mistakes.
For every good, therefore, there seems to be a flip-side that is bad and the choice is ours. It would seem, therefore, that whenever we are faced with trouble and adversity, that we are only a prayer away from a God who truly cares, and is ready to give us power for our day.
I don’t understand life, with all its heartaches. I don’t know why sometimes the good people seem to suffer more than the evil ones do. I don’t understand why God can’t just stop all the evil, the hard work, the problems, the bad corn and soy bean prices. I don’t know why God couldn’t just make life easy for me. It sems to me that, if He would, then I could be a top-notch Christian. If only I could make a million bucks, and if the going wasn’t so tough, then I’d have no trouble having faith.
But life isn’t that way. God gave me the power of choice, so that I could profit from my mistakes. Without work, I would become a jelly-fish. Struggle brings pain, but without struggle, there would be no growth. It is my achievement that brings joy, but there is always a price.
I’m glad that God made a world that is seething with struggle, and one that constantly confronts me with decisions. Without that, we might as well be stones on the hill-side. I don’t like evil, but out of evil, good can come, and I am determined to find it.
Paul was writing from prison. Was he happy to be there? No, he didn’t say that. What he said was simply that because of his afflictions, some good things had come out of them, and then he named them: “the praetorian guard knew that his imprisonment was for Christ; the brethren had been made a bit more confident in the Lord, because of his imprisonment, and they were more bold to speak the word of the Lord.”
Can we ever say that evil is good? No, but it is possible to say that “out of evil, good can come.” Because God made our world, He made it good, but in order to give us the freedom to choose, He had to make a world in which we could learn from our sins and mistakes.
For every good, therefore, there seems to be a flip-side that is bad and the choice is ours. It would seem, therefore, that whenever we are faced with trouble and adversity, that we are only a prayer away from a God who truly cares, and is ready to give us power for our day.
I don’t understand life, with all its heartaches. I don’t know why sometimes the good people seem to suffer more than the evil ones do. I don’t understand why God can’t just stop all the evil, the hard work, the problems, the bad corn and soy bean prices. I don’t know why God couldn’t just make life easy for me. It sems to me that, if He would, then I could be a top-notch Christian. If only I could make a million bucks, and if the going wasn’t so tough, then I’d have no trouble having faith.
But life isn’t that way. God gave me the power of choice, so that I could profit from my mistakes. Without work, I would become a jelly-fish. Struggle brings pain, but without struggle, there would be no growth. It is my achievement that brings joy, but there is always a price.
I’m glad that God made a world that is seething with struggle, and one that constantly confronts me with decisions. Without that, we might as well be stones on the hill-side. I don’t like evil, but out of evil, good can come, and I am determined to find it.
posted by Francis Geo. Guither at 9:33 PM
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