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GOD BRINGS GOOD OUT OF BAD
A. Introduction: We are working on a series about developing the right perspective. A right perspective
sees things the way they truly are according to God. When you have the right perspective, it gives you
hope and peace of mind even in the most challenging situations.
1. Only Almighty God has all the facts about everything all the time (past, present, and future) because
He is Omniscient (all-knowing) and Omnipresent (present everywhere at once).
a. This is reality according to God. Nothing can come against you that is bigger than God.
Everything that you are facing is temporary and subject to change by God’s power either in this
life or the life to come.
b. This is reality according to God. He is perfectly present with you right now, loving you and
reigning. And He is and upholding all things in your life by the word of His power. And He
will get you through whatever you’re dealing with until He gets you out.
c. This is reality according to God. He causes everything in your life to serve His purposes, as He
brings maximum glory to Himself and maximum good to as many people as possible.
2. The problem with this is that I’m describing unseen realities, things that are real but imperceptible to
our physical senses right now—and we can see and feel the hardships in our circumstances.
a. We have to learn to look past what we see and feel in the moment to what we can’t see—God
with us and for us. To look past means you realize that there is more to reality than what you
see and feel. There are unseen realities—God with us and for us, at work in our circumstances.
b. These unseen realities are revealed in the Scriptures. And as we take time to think about them,
our view of reality (or perspective) changes. Paul the apostle, a man who faced many hardships,
was able to call them all momentary and light, because he focused his attention on what he
couldn’t see—reality as it true is, God with him and for him, loving and reigning. II Cor 4:17-18
3. To have the right perspective, we need to understand what God is working toward in this world, as
well as how He works in our lives. Paul was aware of both. That’s our topic tonight.
B. God is working to recover His family. God created human beings to be His sons and daughters, and He
created the earth to be a home for Himself and His family. But all humans, beginning with Adam, the
first man, have chosen independence from God through sin. And all are disqualified for God’s family.
1. When Adam, sinned both the human race and the earth were affected. A curse or plague of
corruption and death infused the entire creation. Rom 5:12—(Adam’s) sin spread death throughout
all the world, so everything began to grow old and die (TLB).
a. Because of Adam’s sin, weeds, decay, natural disasters, sickness, old age, and death became part
of earth’s makeup, and human nature was corrupted. We’re all born with an inclination to put
ourselves above God and other people, which creates more chaos. Gen 2:17; Gen 3:17-19; etc.
b. None of these developments took God by surprise. He already had a plan in mind to undo the
damage done. Following Adam’s sin, Almighty God began to unveil His plan to recover the
family and the family home through Jesus, the Seed of the woman (Mary). Gen 3:15
1. The Lord Jesus would incarnate or take on a human nature, and be born into this world to die
as a sacrifice for sin. By doing so, He will break the power of sin and death and open the
way for us to be restored to God’s family through faith in Him. I Pet 3:18; Heb 2:14-15
2. In connection with Jesus’ second coming, He will cleanse the earth of all sin, corruption, and
death, and restore it to a fit forever home for God and His family. Rev 21-22
2. We must understand that there is no such thing as a problem free life in this sin damaged world.
You can do everything right and things still go wrong, because that’s life in a fallen world.
a. We must also understand that God’s goal is not to make this life the highlight of our existence.

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Right now, God is gathering His family for eternity, and He uses the harsh realities of life in this
broken world to further His purposes and causes them to serve His ultimate plan for a family.
b. The Bible is fifty percent history. It gives us examples of how God worked in the lives of real
people as He furthered His plan for a family. When we examine these examples, we see that:
1. God often puts off short-term blessings (ending trouble right now) in order to achieve long
term eternal results. We see that He uses human choice and causes it to serve His purposes.
2. The Bible shows us that much of God’s work in our circumstances is invisible (behind the
scenes) until we finally see visible results. Some results we won’t see until the life to come.
3. But just because we don’t see anything happening, doesn’t mean that nothing is happening.
And God’s timing is perfect
3. Back to Paul and his perspective. He was persuaded that God loved him, and that his circumstances
were not expressions of God’s greater or lesser love for him. Paul was persuaded that nothing could
separate him from God’s love or stop God’s purposes for him from coming to pass. Rom 8:31-39
a. In that context Paul wrote: And we know that God causes everything to work together for the
good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them (Rom 8:28, NLT).
1. Our created purpose is to become sons and daughters of God through faith in Jesus, and then
to become increasingly Christlike in our character and behavior (lessons for another day).
2. The point for now is that God has made a tremendous promise to people who live in a
broken, sin cursed earth. He can take the harsh realities of this damaged world and cause
them to serve His ultimate purpose for a family. He can actually bring good out of bad.
b. Rom 8:28 is not the first time this statement about God bringing good out of bad appears in the
Bible. It was first spoken by a man named Joseph in the Old Testament book of Genesis.
c. When we look at who Joseph was and why he made the statement, we get insight into how God
works in a fallen world, and what it means that God works all things together for good.
C, Joseph was a great-grandson of Abraham, the father of the Israelites (the Jewish people), the people
group through whom Jesus (the promised Seed) came into the world. His story is found in Gen 37-50
1. Abraham had a son named Isaac, who had a son named Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons. Jacob’s
sons became the heads of twelve tribes which eventually grew into the nation of Israel.
a. Joseph was Jacob’s eleventh son, and was his father’s favorite. When Joesph was young, God
promised him greatness. This promise, added to his father’s favor, made his brothers hate him.
b. When Joseph was seventeen, his brothers decided to kill him, but changed their minds and sold
him into slavery instead. The brothers lied to their father and told him Joseph was killed by a
wild animal. Joseph ended up in Egypt. And for thirteen years, he had one trial after another.
2. Joseph’s first owner was Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, King of Egypt. Potiphar’s wife falsely
accused Joseph of attempted rape when he refused to sleep with her, and Joseph was sent to prison.
a. In prison Joseph met two inmates (a butler and a baker) who worked for Pharaoh, but had
displeased their king. Both men had dreams which they did not understand.
1. But God gave Joseph the interpretations of the dreams—the baker would be hanged, and the
butler would be returned to his position. Joseph’s interpretations were correct.
2. The butler forgot about Joseph for two years, until Pharaoh had dreams that no one could
interpret. Joseph was summoned from prison to interpret the dreams. The dreams
predicted seven years of abundant harvests followed by seven years of famine.
b. Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of developing and implementing a food gathering and distribution
program. As a result of Joseph’s efforts, Egypt had plenty of food when the famine came and
was able to feed not only their own people, but surrounding nations. Multitudes of people in the
region were saved from starvation.

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c. Joseph’s brothers were among those who came to Egypt for food. Joseph was reunited with his
family when his father, brothers, and their families moved to Egypt to live.
1. When Joseph’s father Jacob eventually died of old age, his brothers were fearful that Jospeh
would take his revenge on them for what they’d done to him.
2. When they expressed their fears to him, Joseph’s reply was: Gen 50:20—As far as I am
concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to this high
position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people (NLT).
3. Let’s examine Joseph’s story and answer some questions that we all struggle with in the hard times.
a. Why did this happen to Joseph? Because that’s life in a sin cursed, sin damaged world. Fallen,
corrupted human beings, motived by jealously and hatred, attacked Joseph.
b. Why didn’t God warn Joseph or stop the brothers from selling him? Because his brothers still
would have had hatred and murder in their hearts toward him making future trouble likely.
1. Had God intervened at that point, Joseph would not have ended up in Egypt in charge of a
food distribution program.
2. Joseph’s own family may have died of starvation in the famine, which would have wiped out
the line through which the promised Redeemer (the Seed) was to come. Gen 12:1-3
c. Why didn’t God expose Potiphar’s wife’s lies, which would have kept Joseph out of prison?
Because Joseph would not have met the butler in prison who was his link to Pharaoh.
1. Once the butler was released from prison, he forgot about Joseph for two years. Why didn’t
God remind the butler about Joseph’s situation as his soon as the man was reinstated?
2. Because Joseph might have been released from prison, but without interpreting Pharoah’s
dreams, he would not have been put in charge of the food program.
4. Since we have the whole story in front of us, we can see how, despite the hardships that Joseph
endured, in the hands of God his ordeal brought great good—both temporary and eternal results.
a. Just as Joseph was able to look back over his life, we can look at it and see that God is so great,
He can take wicked actions not of His doing, and cause them to serve His purposes.
b. Not only were thousands saved from starvation (temporary blessing), the family line Jesus will
come through was preserved (eternal blessing), multitudes of idol-worshippers heard about the
One True God, the Creator and Sustainer of all. There’s no telling how many people are in
Heaven today as a result of Joseph’s experience. Gen 39:3; Gen 40:8; Gen 41:38-39; Gen 41:57
c. When Joseph’s brothers first came to Egypt for food, he recognized them, but they didn’t know it
was him until he later revealed himself to them. Joseph told his brothers: God has sent me
here to keep you and your families alive so that you will become a great nation (Gen 45:7, NLT).
1. Joseph knew that it was his brothers who sold him into slavery, not God. But he was able to
look past what they did to God at work. When Joseph said God sent me, he didn’t mean that
God caused his troubles. Rather Joseph expressed how in control God is of His universe.
2. God didn’t cause any of Jospeh’s ordeal, but He used all of it. God knew what the brothers
were going to do before they did it, and He worked their choices into His plan.
3. God is in such control of the universe that He can cause events He doesn’t orchestrate or
approve of and cause them to serve His ultimate purposes of good. Almighty God reigns!
5. Because God is Omnipresent (present everywhere at once) He was always with Joseph and he
acknowledged God. To acknowledge means to take notice of, to recognize the existence, truth or
fact of something. Throughout his order, Joseph acknowledged the unseen God.
a. When Potiphar’s wife tried to get Joseph to sleep with her, his reply way: How can I ever do
such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God (Gen 39:9, NLT).
b. God with Joseph was real to Joseph. It was his perspective or view of reality, so much so that
those around Joesph (idol-worshipers) recognized it.

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1. Gen 39:2-3—The Lord was with Joseph and blessed him greatly as he served in the home of
his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph,
giving him success in everything he did (NLT).
2. Joseph credited God as the one who gave him the interpretation of dreams, and Pharaoh also
recognized that God was with Joseph. Pharaoh said of Joseph: Gen 41:38—He is a man
who is obviously filled with the Spirit of God (NLT).
6. We get insight into Joseph’s mindset (his perspective) as he lived his life in Egypt. He lost his life
in Canaan, but after his thirteen years of trials, God gave him a new life in Egypt. Joseph married
and raised a family in Egypt. His children’s names show us how he viewed his circumstances.
a. Gen 41:51-52—Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, ‘God has made me forget all
my troubles and the family of my father.’ Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said,
‘God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering’ (NLT).
b. God made two promises to Joseph before his trials began. He promised Joseph greatness and a
homeland in Canaan (Israel), the land of his birth. Gen 37:5-8; Gen 35:9-12
1. Joseph achieved greatness, but never went home to live. However, shortly before he died as
an old man in Egypt, Joseph instructed his family to carry his bones with them when they
returned to Canaan, as he knew they one day would. Gen 50:24-26
2. Joseph knew that his destiny did not end when he died. He knew his body will one day be
raised from the grave and that he will one day live on earth again. And the first place he, in
his resurrected body, will stand is Canaan. Gen 15:13; Job 19:25-27
c. Joseph’s mindset, Joseph’s perspective gave him hope, contentment, and peace of mind in the
midst of difficult circumstances. Despite what he saw and felt, Joseph kept his focus on unseen
realities, the way things really are—God with him and God for him.
7. We see a different perspective in one of Joseph’s family members, his father Jacob. When Joseph’s
brothers first came to Egypt asking for food, Joseph didn’t immediately reveal himself to them. He
put them through a series of tests (lessons for another day).
a. Joseph gave them the food they requested, but imprisoned one of the brothers, Simeon, and told
them that if they wanted any more food, they would have to bring their youngest brother, who
had remained in Canaan (Benjamin) to him first.
b. When the brothers reached their home and told their father what happened, this was Jacob’s
response: Gen 42:36—Jacob exclaimed, ‘You have deprived me of my children! Joseph has
disappeared, Simeon is gone, and now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going
against me” (NLT).
1. Although it looked and felt that way, the opposite was true—everything was moving in a
very good direction. Simeon gone from Jacob and he was about to be reunited with Joseph.
2. However, Jacob was in the middle of his story and couldn’t see the end result. When we are
in the middle of our own story, Jacob’s story encourages us because it shows us how God
works in a fallen world to accomplishes His purposes. And it helps us have confidence in
that God is working in our lives to bring good out of bad. Rom 15:4

D. Conclusion: You can’t avoid trouble, but you can be assured that God is working in your situation to
bring genuine good out of genuine bad.
1. We struggle with “why God doesn’t stop bad stuff from coming into our lives”. Consider this
thought: You don’t know what He has stopped because you never saw it.
2. Think of what you’ve gone through up to now where you were sure you wouldn’t make it through.
Yet, here you are. God really will get you through until He gets you out, and like Joseph, one day
you’ll be able to look back and see the good that God brought. Much more next week!