When Bad Things Are Good

While in the military, a young man was told he was to be on a flight back from Europe to the United States. He grabbed his few possessions and reported for the flight, only to be told his name wasn’t on the list. “How can that be?” he pleaded. “It has to be. I heard my name called earlier!” He explained that he desperately wanted to return home. But his name was not on the list.

Someone had made a mistake, and he wouldn’t be going home until later. How much later, he didn’t know. He was devastated that God hadn’t permitted him to make the flight. He lay on his bunk and sulked, feeling bitter that he would have to wait to see his family. But the next morning, he received the shocking news that the plane he was determined to be aboard didn’t make it to the United States.

It had crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Everyone on board perished. It is not unusual for people to feel aggrieved when disappointments strike. But not all bad things are bad.

Not being able to board a plane home is bad.

Avoiding tragedy is good, and the young man —who went on to become a minister of the gospel— could not have experienced the good if he hadn’t first gone through the bad. Jonah lived through a similar experience.

Without a doubt, the first reaction of someone swallowed by a large fish would be, “This is really, really bad.” But God Himself had prepared that sea creature for a special purpose. What Jonah thought was a disaster was actually something magnificent in the making. He was saved in a storm, preserved in a sea creature, and transported to dry land where he could begin his journey back to the place God wanted him to be.

His preaching brought salvation to an entire city.

What was bad for Jonah turned out to be a phenomenal blessing.

Don’t be too quick to judge God when things don’t go right.

Bad is often a step on the way to good.