Sometimes We Can See God’s Plan

Can Good Come From Evil, Pain And Suffering?

The short answer is “Yes, absolutely!”

The previous articles in this thread have shown, despite our best efforts, we have not nor cannot explain why God allows evil, pain and suffering to persist in our world.  We can’t explain this because we can’t possibly understand God’s perspective of the universe as a whole and we can’t possibly understand His plan for it and for us.  This is because our view of the world and our position in it are very limited and sometime even self-centered.

Instead we must have trust in God’s wisdom and trust He has a plan that’s good.  This is the clear message from the biblical book of Job – one of our oldest and wisest writings.

How Can Good Come From Evil, Pain And Suffering?

It’s often impossible to imagine how good can arise from sorrow and pain.  Especially in the moment and especially considering the situation.  However, with the benefit of hindsight, we can often see the glory of God’s wisdom.  At the very least, we can often see good arising from bad.

Watch this excellent explanation from award-winning author Frank Turek at Cross Examined for how this can occur.  Start at the 2:20 mark.  You can watch the whole video but Dr. Turek addresses a couple of other topics in the first couple minutes.

In the last two minutes of the video, Dr. Turek reiterates our finite perspective prevents us from seeing the full picture across time that God sees.  He describes “the ripple effect” in which events from today ripple forward in time to impact many future events.  For example, in the Bible Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers but rises to a position of importance while a slave in Egypt.

He subsequently saves his brothers and their families from famine years later saying in Genesis 50:20 – 21, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God used it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.”  Selling Joseph into slavery rippled forward to benefit the very people who originally sold him into that slavery.  We can’t trace all such events arising from evil, pain and suffering but God can and does.

Amber Hagerman Represents The Hand Of God

The limits of our perspective make it impossible to see what God sees and makes it difficult for us to see past the sorrow and anguish caused by evil and tragedy.  However, sometimes we’re able to see good arising from evil – even in our life time.

Consider the case of Amber Hagerman who, at age 9, was abducted and murdered in Texas in 1996.  When Amber disappeared and was found murdered, I’m sure the Hagerman family were beyond despondent.  There was no way for them nor anyone else to see how such tragedy could possibly be part of God’s Plan for good.  The sorrow that the event created for Amber’s family and many others must have been horrific – far beyond the comprehension of an outsider – but Amber’s murder became a tipping point that set in motion creation of the Amber Alert system that’s now pervasive in the US and in many countries around the world.

Sure, Amber’s abduction and murder wasn’t the first and likely won’t be the last but, with the benefit of time, we see the Hand of God was there, creating connections and impacting others.  The broad adoption of the Amber Alert System and the countless number of children who have been saved from harm because of it is proof that Amber’s death was not in vain and that God’s Plan for her, the Hagerman family and all those involved was ultimately for good.

God is good because, with the benefit of hindsight, we can often see good coming from evil, pain and suffering.  It’s not just the Amber Hagerman story but others as well.  It’s even possible to conceive of millions of evil-leading-to-good stories like Amber Hagerman’s.  Some stories may be small while others are large.  Some fall below the radar while others reach notoriety.

“Yeah, But What About…?”

You might be thinking, “Yeah, great, one story, one example of good arising from tragedy.  What about the Holocaust, genocides during the reigns of Stalin and Mao, the tremendous loss of life from the tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and the countless other tragedies large and small that have occurred throughout human history?  Show me the good results that God has caused from all those.”

Perhaps, as humans, we can attempt to respond by pointing out the attention some of those events have created around the world – attention that has sparked efforts to stop or mitigate similar occurrences in the future.  Perhaps the extreme nature of these events is needed to spur such action.  Can God do this a different way?  Perhaps.  But we must keep in mind our free will.  We can’t be forced to react or activate when faced with terrible or painful situations.  Maybe the most effective way to spur action is to be faced with extreme circumstances.  Perhaps.

In reality, we can’t fully explain these things because our mortal, human perspective is very limited.  We have to trust God knowing that what we might perceive as evil or bad, based on that limited perspective, might in fact be part of His plan for good.

The goal for each of us is to have faith in God knowing that whatever we experience, whether good or bad, is part of His plan.  Good results may not come in our life time.  The good may even come at the expense of our own pain and suffering.  Or, good may benefit strangers who don’t even know of our suffering.  Faith is needed here because, from our limited perspective, there’s no way for us to know God’s Plan nor its implications.  With faith, however, we can feel comforted knowing evil, pain and suffering are all part of God’s Plan for us and that, no matter what, we are part of His overall plan for good.