Can God bring good out of something bad? My answer is a resounding, “Yes!” I’ve experienced it firsthand. Many times. On many different levels.
By far my worst experience occurred when I was almost murdered as a child. The resulting negative effects lasted for years until I became a Christian and God began the healing process. Not until my thirties did I ask God to bring good out of what happened. In the natural it would seem impossible that anything positive could come out of something so heinous.
Years later, I shared my incredible journey of emotional healing from those childhood traumas on The 700 Club, a popular Christian television program. The episode inspired thousands to call in for prayer seeking their own emotional healing from childhood traumas, and hundreds asked Christ into their lives. My story gave them hope that they too could be freed from their painful pasts, and live normal, happy lives. It’s a story I continue to share when given the opportunity.
Another bad experience I had, though on a much lower level, occurred over twenty years ago. My husband and I were out of town during the winter taking care of a dying relative when our neighbors informed us our upstairs bathroom water pipes had burst. I flew home right away and walked through several inches of water throughout the bottom level. The outdated shag carpeting and older furniture in the den and my husband’s office were unsalvageable.
The lower level held my least favorite decor in our home. It consisted of a mix of furniture from my single days and my husband’s bachelor days and needed a major overhaul. One that never made it to the top of my ‘to do’ list while working full time. Over the next few months, the entire level was replaced with modern carpeting and beautiful new matching furniture, thanks to our insurance coverage. I loved the transformation and thanked God for those burst pipes!
Romans 15:4, says: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures may have hope.” I believe the same thing is true about our past bad experiences. We can learn by them when we recall how God met our need and then brought good out of what happened. Sometimes the ‘good’ is that our faith is increased. And hopefully the next time we go through a trial, we have more confidence that God will meet our need. Or sometimes the ‘good’ is that we can encourage others through our own deliverance or redemption stories.
Though the current situation is on a much grander scale, I’m praying God will bring good out of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic as well. I’m looking forward to it.
Mary Therese Hutchinson 