Turning Evil Into Good

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..." Genesis 50:20a

Last night I had a dream. Now, let me start by saying most of my dreams make no sense at all. This one however did, well sort of.

I was at a house that apparently was mine. This man came along and said he owned the land and he was going to put in an underground garage. Yeah, that doesn't make much sense, but bare with me. In order to do this he needed to move my house. I protested, but he moved it. I was very upset that my house was moved. The workers came and started to tear apart a shed. They used some sort of machine to clear out the inside. When I realized what they were doing I became extremely upset.

It turns out that there were three small kittens in the shed and I was afraid that they were killed. I went into the shed and found one kitten, alive but injured. I gave the kitten to someone to take inside.I stayed in the shed for awhile, distraught that the other two kittens couldn't be found. Then a bag started to move. In the bag were the other two kittens and they were fine. I scooped them up and took them inside, rejoicing all the way.

Now, it still was a strange dream, but as soon as I woke up I heard God speak to me. He spoke the words of Genesis 50:20 to me. Over and over again I heard Him say that He meant it for good. Such a peaceful reminder that He is in control. No matter what plans satan has for me, no matter what havoc he tries to reek in my life, God will use it for good.

I believe the parts of this dream having meaning for me too, but the most important part is remembering that God is in control. I belong to Him and He has a perfect plan. Remember that as you go through confusing, even destrucive times in your life. He takes everything that satan means for evil and He works it for good.

He Works It!

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

There's this song that plays on the radio that has been going through my mind a lot. (I am so bad with names of groups and songs.) The part that keeps repeating itself is, "You make all things work together for my good" which goes right along with this verse. I am not a musical person so when song lyrics keep going through my mind I know God is speaking to me.

The part of that line that really sticks out is the "You". Of course, the "you" is God. I think, for me at least, that is so important. When I hear people quote this verse they tend to focus on the "those who" and the "work together for good" parts. Not that's bad or anything, but for me I find I focus more on the "God" part.

I know me, I know that I tend to think more about me than I should. I could look at this verse and focus on the fact that almost all of it is about me. Yet, for me the key is God. He makes all things work together for good. It just doesn't happen. It certainly doesn't happen because I love God. The working together for good comes from Him. He does it.

He is the only one who can see how it all works together. He is the only one who sees the good in the hurtful, hard, and scary things. Not that they are good, but He sees how they will work good into me. He sees how they will work together for good in my future. He sees it because He is the One who makes it intertwine into good.

It makes me think about "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 I just see and know things in part. Even when I look back and see how things come together I still won't see all that God sees. I might see the good and experience the good, but not all of it.

So for me, it is really important to know He works things for good, all things. Once again, He does it.