I see so much better with hindsight. I see how God has acted to bring me to things I would never have considered after the fact. Is it possible that I could see these things before they happened? Is it possible that I could know that God is working even in the most dire of circumstances.
Yes, it is, but I will have to change my way of thinking about God.
God does not react to circumstances. He does not cause everything that happens but He knows they will happen. He weaves that knowledge with His will to produce a world that will know salvation. He weaves the minute details in my life to produce something much better.
God does not expect me to react to circumstances alone. I should interpret my circumstances with His will for me in mind. This means the things around me are not merely random acts but purposeful allowances of God's will. Some of them may be horrible but I have no way of judging their maliciousness. I do not know what horrible act was prevented or what great act was created by any event. I only know that it came by God's permission or volition.
I cannot determine God's will specifically without His revelation to me. I know my own salvation because God visited me. He brought me to conviction. He cleared my mind for thinking so that I would trust in Him. I do not believe He was irresistible but I do believe He was amazingly persuasive. The same is true for the circumstances within my life. I cannot know specifically what God is doing unless He reveals it to me.
However, I can know that God is working. I may not know where but just knowing that God is using something I think is horrible is enough. I can know He is loving me through whatever I am going through. I know He has a purpose. I know He will not fail.
I may not be able to be specific in knowing what He is doing but I can reinterpret my circumstances from things which are merely happening to me to things which are changing the universe for His glory. I can know that God has a reason without knowing what that reason is. I can praise Him for that reason. I can have joy in what God is doing without having to know the outcome because I know His will is to give me a better future than I could ever have without these circumstances.
Physically the night will be just as dark. The circumstances may be just as bad but they will never be dire for there is a morning coming. The light of that morning will allow me to see the specific will of God. I can reinterpret it for my good now and know how good it is later.
This must be my way of seeing my circumstances.
You know, the same is true for everyone who reads this too. (Maybe you should read the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis.)
Genesis 50:20 (NIV)
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
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