Good and Evil

“You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.” - Psalm 119:68  

Yesterday, we began talking about the goodness of God and the reasons why we can know for a fact that God is a good God. First, God is good because He can determine good from evil. And second, God is good because He can direct good and evil. We dove deeper into each of these reasons in yesterday’s devotion. So if you missed it, I strongly encourage you to go back and read it.

But for today, we’re going to continue this conversation by discussing two more reasons why we can know for sure that God is good.

The third reason God is good is because He can derive good from evil. For example, don’t we normally think of things like hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes as evils? We wish they could be eliminated, but have you ever heard that those things are actually necessary for the world’s benefit? Planetary science now affirms that these events have to occur for the Earth to maintain the delicate balance of atmospheric and environmental conditions for us to survive. This is just one of many examples that exist of instances where God can derive good things from bad circumstances.

Finally, the fourth reason God is good is because He will deliver us to good from evil. A good God will prevent suffering and evil unless He has a good reason and a purpose not to. God sometimes allows one evil because it will prevent a greater one. It’s part of His plan of deliverance.

Take, for example, the cross of Jesus Christ. The greatest evil in the history of the world happened to the only perfect person who has ever lived. When Jesus was crucified, it was to pay for our sins so we could have not just life on this earth, but eternal life with God forever. And that horrible thing had to happen so that we could have a chance at being delivered from evil for good one day.

Aren’t you glad we serve a good God?

Dear Lord, thank you for being able to derive good from evil and for promising to take your children to good from evil. This world might be tough now, but it won’t be like this forever, and I’m looking forward to the day I get to spend eternity with you. In Jesus’ name, amen.