In the economy of God negative circumstances are often the vehicles the Lord uses the most to show forth His glory. The late Olympic athlete, Eric Liddell, confirms this thought when he stated: “Circumstances may appear to wreck our lives and God’s plans, but God is not helpless among the ruins. God’s love is still working. He comes in and takes the calamity and uses it victoriously, working out His wonderful plan of love.”1
The Scriptures are full of examples where the situation looked grim for the people of God, but the Lord took each potential calamity and brought about a great victory. Consider how God delivered Daniel from certain death in the lion’s den. Or how God delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh’s army by the parting of the Red Sea. And of course, we have the ultimate victory at Calvary when the worst thing in history, the death of Jesus, turned out to be the best thing in history – the salvation of millions of souls!
God has, down through the centuries, turned negative circumstances into glorious victories, thus allowing His glory to be manifested to both His children as well as non-believers. The truth is God specializes in turning negative circumstances into positive outcomes.
The two Scripture verse that come to mind in regards to God flipping the script on negative circumstances are (Romans 8:28) and (2 Corinthians 4:17).
In (Romans 8:28) we read: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Here we see that God uses both good and bad circumstances to bring about something good for His children.
And in (2 Corinthians 4:17) we read: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” I love this verse because it shows that God often uses affliction to bring about future glory. And not only that but this glory is so great that it dwarfs the momentary affliction in both the length of duration and the size of the blessing. I leave it to you to meditate on just how awesome a blessing an “eternal weight of glory” is.
So the next time you encounter a difficult circumstance stay close to God and watch Him manifest His glory!