A tornado came sweeping across the prairie of Minnesota
destroying everything in its path. When it struck Rochester,
Minnesota, hundreds of people were injured, and 23 were killed. It
was a tragedy, yet millions of people have been thankful for what God
did to bring much good out of that tragic evil. After the storm, the
Mayo brothers, William and Charles, worked with their father, who
was the local doctor, in bandaging wounds, setting broken limbs, and
performing operations. Sister Alfred, the mother superior of the
Convent Sisters of St. Francis was so impressed with their work, she
offered to build a hospital if the Mayo's would take charge of it. They
agreed, and Mayo Clinic was opened in 1889.
Dr. Mayo and his two sons had never even had an hospital
internship, but they turned that hospital into one of the most famous in
all the world. They probably would never have been heard of outside
of their own small territory, but because of that tornado they got the
chance, and they took advantage of it, and became some of the best
known surgeon's in America. Millions of people have been helped,
cured, and blest because of the suffering of a few. It is one of the great
truths of history, that God delights to bring good out of evil, and turn
a negative into a positive.
The vast majority of victories over disease in this world are the
result of someone's suffering. Out of suffering comes the victory over
suffering. Because John D. Rockefeller suffered an illness at age 55,
he was motivated to give millions to medical research. Several million
a month is spent by the Rockefeller foundation to promote good health
throughout the world, just because a rich man got sick. It may sound
strange, but the fact is, many can say thank God that Rockefeller
never had perfect health. Thank God he suffered, for out of his
suffering millions have been able to conquer suffering.
Thank God that Dr. Sabha Rav had a brother that died of a disease
called sprue in India. That may sound cruel, but listen to the full
story. He was so crushed by his brothers death that he was going to
bury himself in a Hindu Monastery for the rest of his life. A Christian
missionary urged him to, instead of that, do something to help others
who suffered as his brother did. His imagination was inspired by the
idea, and he went off to Spain, and then London, and finally to
Harvard. After 15 years as a professor in Harvard Medical School he
became the director of the mammoth research center in the Lederle
Laboratories in New York. With 300 assistants he discovered the
cure for sprue, and with his own money he sent the drug back to India
where the disease that killed his brother was wiped out. Dr. Rav
became a Christian, and one of the most Christlike men of our time, as
well as one of the greatest medical men. Thank God for the tragic
trial he had to endure, for out of it came blessings for millions.
We cannot know the value of any experience at the time of
experiencing it. There is no way to know if that which makes us cry
now will be one of our most precious blessings in the future. Jesus
said blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. In
other words, our weeping will be turned to rejoicing, and the very
thing that we feel bad about now will make us glad in the future.
James says the same thing as his divine brother in verse 12. "Blessed
is the man who endures trials for when he has stood the test he will
receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love
Him." Evil endured will end in good. What this amounts to is a
challenge to be an incurable optimist, always assuming that life's trials
are opportunities to cooperate with God in bringing good out of evil.
Only time can reveal the true worth of any experience.
Lin Yutang tells the story of a Chinese nobleman who lost a
beautiful horse. This was bad luck, and so his friends came to console
him for his misfortune. But the next day the lost horse returned with
ten other fine wild horses he had befriended in the wilderness. This
was a stroke of good luck, and his friends gathered to congratulate
him on his fine fortune. But the next day his son tried to break one of
the wild horses, and was thrown off, and broke his leg. His friends
gathered to bemoan this bit of bad luck. But the next day a local war
was declared, and the noblemen's son was unable to fight in the bloody
battle because of his broken leg, and it turned out he would certainly
have been killed if he had gone into battle. So his friends gathered for
a feast to rejoice over his good fortune.
The story is portraying the fact that just do not have enough
knowledge to judge the value of what comes to us in life. We call it a
trial if it hurts now, but we do not know what benefit it can bring to
make us rejoice later. Like the pain of getting a tooth drilled and
filled that we might enjoy the peace of painless months ahead. One of
the main purposes of James is to help Christians see that life's
negatives may have very positive value, and so we are to be optimists
even in times of trial.
This takes enormous patience, for the value of a trial may not be
seen for a long time, and may not even be seen in time at all, but will
only be made manifest when we receive our crown in glory. Anybody
can be optimistic if the reward is just around the corner, but what if it
is a long way down the road? A sign on the bank in Sioux Falls, South
Dakota says, "God give me patience, and I want it right now." We
are often impatient in our desire to grow in patience. It is the very
fact that we cannot see the value of what we suffer right now that
develops patience. We must learn to wait, believing that God is
always working to bring good out of evil.
This was the case of Jim Morton, a newsman who was bitten by a
rattlesnake in North Carolina. He was in a disaster area where a
hurricane had blown down all the telephone lines, and so no doctor
could be called. Morton's buddy applied a tourniquet and used what
medication was handy. It was the next day before he was gotten to a
hospital. Doctors were puzzled that he was alive. Upon examination
they found that an injury he had received earlier in his life saved him.
The circulation was so poor in that leg that the poison venom did not
spread to the rest of his body. There is no way he could have known
that when he was injured in that leg that that negative experience
would one day save his life. It was a blessing he was wounded, but only
a man of faith could believe it. Only faith can be optimistic in trials
expecting that what is bad now will lead to some good in the future.
James says, this is just practical Christianity, and you need to pray
in faith for the wisdom to see life from this perspective. In other
words, do not judge life's events impatiently, assuming what is bad
now is going to be perpetually bad. Rather, assume that God will
work in your life to bring some good value out of what is bad, so that
the day will come when you can thank God for it.
Paul had so many places to go, and things to do, and how
frustrating it must have been to get arrested and thrown in prison.
The needs of the churches were urgent. How could there be any good
in this delay? Yet, we know now that Paul's imprisonment was one of
the greatest blessings of history, for while in prison he wrote his
Epistles that have been God's guiding light for His church for all time.
Multiplied millions have been blessed by Paul's imprisonment. Paul
and James were in perfect agreement on the optimistic view of life:
That God works in everything for good with those who love Him, and
are called according to His purpose.
Thomas Edison lost his hearing, but he had the wisdom to see its
value. He was convinced that his amazing power of concentration had
been made possible by his deafness. He was able to work undisturbed
in the most noisy places, where others developed nerve problems. His
handicap enabled him to concentrate and discover things that were a
blessing to millions. Most negative experiences are not calamities if
one has the right spirit, and the insight to see beyond the present. The
same wind that blows out the match fans the smoldering coals to a
fierce flow.
One ship drives East, another drives West,
While the self-same breezes blow;
Tis the set of the sails, and not the gales,
That bids them where to go.
Like the winds of the air are the waves of the fates,
As we journey along through life;
Tis the set of the soul that decided the goal,
And not the calm, or the strife.
James agrees with the poet. It is not what happens to you, but how
you count it that really matters. It is your mental attitude that
determines how you handle life. If you are pessimistic, you can turn a
blessing into a problem. Like the farmer who had so many bad potatoes
in his field. One year almost all were perfect potatoes, and
then he complained because there were no bad ones to feed the pigs.
If you are determined to be a pessimist, you can cloud every beautiful
day with a spirit of gloom, but it also true that if you can see the value
of trials, you can turn every rainy day into a picnic. It is your
responsibility to get the wisdom it takes to be an optimist, says James.
If from the affliction somewhere do not grow
Honor which could not else have been, a faith
An elevation and a sanctity;
If new strength be not given, nor old restored,
The blame is ours, not God's.
Wordsworth
Again, James agrees with the poet, for he says, God will gladly give
us the wisdom to see the value of life's trials, if we ask in faith. If we
fail to ask, or if we doubt, and we are double minded, we will not
receive the wisdom we need to see. The pessimist is a self-made man.
The optimist is a God made man. The person who can see no good in
anything, and who is forever complaining of life's lousy breaks, is in
that state of mind, not because God wills it, but because he has chosen
to live in doubt that God delights to bring forth good out of evil. Bad
things always have the last word with the pessimist, and they are ends,
but to the optimist they are means to a greater end.
Madam Guyon, the French mystic, was left a widow at 28. She
resolved to devote her life to the poor and needy. She was arrested
and put in the Bastille for 7 years. Like Paul, she used this time for
writing, and her works have made her one of the most quoted women
in history. She has ministered to millions because of her trials, or
rather, because she was able to heed the wisdom of James, and count
her trials a joy. She wrote,
My cage confines me round, Abroad I cannot fly
But though my wing is closely bound, My heart's at liberty.
My prison walls cannot control the flight, The freedom of my soul.
Oh! It is good to soar these bolts and bars above,
To thee whose purpose I adore, Whose providence I love;
And in thy mighty will to find, The joy, the freedom of the wind.
History is filled with examples of the truth of what James is
teaching. We can share our own testimony of how the near fatal
accident of our daughter Cindy has turned out to be a blessing for her
and us. Her whole life has been radically changed physically,
mentally, and spiritually because of that negative experience. There is
no way we could know at the time of the crisis. Everything was dark
and negative, but in time good came from that evil. This truth of
James is demonstrated time and time again in history, and can be
experienced in our own lives. But I want to warn you of the dangers
involved in this precious truth. Just as good can come out of evil, so
evil can come out of good by abuse, misunderstanding, and superficial
application of the truth.
Christians tend to push this theme of good out of evil to a point
where they deny the reality of evil, and lose their balance. If God
works in everything for good, they say, then everything is really good
after all, and just seems to be evil. This is the Christian Science view
of life. Sin and evil are just wrong ways of thinking, and are not real.
This is not only heresy, it is nonsense, and we need to avoid any
connection with such folly.
The book of James is packed with clear revelation of the reality of
evil that is to be avoided. In this first chapter he makes it clear that
doubt and double-mindedness makes us miss God's best. Temptation
is not of God, but comes from our own inner lust, and leads to sin and
death out of God's will. Anger is an evil that does not do the will of
God. Christians can be deceased, and be hearers of the Word, and
not doers. They can use their tongue in many evil ways. In chapter 2
he says Christians can be prejudice, and sin terribly in showing
partiality. He can profess faith, but be superficial because he does not
follow it up with good works.
In chapter 3 he warns of the danger of teaching, and how we can
make many mistakes, especially with the tongue. It can do so much
evil that hurts the body of Christ. It is pure stupidity to think of this
as good. So it is with the jealously and selfish ambition that Christians
can display. In chapter 4 he says, war is not God's will. It comes from
the evil heart filled with covetousness. Unanswered prayers are
common he says, because we only ask to fulfill our own passionate
drives. Christians can be such proud, arrogant sinners that they
become friends of the world and enemies of God. They can speak evil
of their brothers, and plan their future with no thought of God. In
chapter 5 he condemns the rich Christians who live in luxury and
pleasure at the expense of others.
The point of this survey is to give balance, lest we jump to the false
conclusion that because God can bring good out of evil, all evil is
really good. Not so! Life is full of evil, and the Christian church is full
of folly and sin, and harmful practices that make life miserable for
many, and with no redeeming values. Christians hurt each other,
injure each others faith, and their ability to function properly in the
body, and there is nothing good about it. It is folly and nothing else.
Keep the superficial idea out of your head that everything is good.
You will find this in the literature of the cults, but not in the Word of
God. Everyday rotten things happen to Christians. If God can bring
good out of evil, but man can bring evil into good, we obviously have a
confusing conflict that calls for some clear thinking.
It calls for us to be aware of the danger of justifying evil because
God can use it for some good. Evil is still evil, and will be judged as
such, even if God does use it for good. When a fresh shipload of slaves
from Africa was unloaded in Newport in colonial days, the minister
publicly prayed and gave thanks to God for bringing these benighted
blacks under the blessed influence of the Gospel. He probably
deceived himself, and all who were present, but it did not make
slavery good. No matter how much good did come out of it, those who
sinned in doing it will be held accountable for evil. The good that
comes out of evil is God's doing, and will not be credited to those who
do the evil. If that was the case, the opponents of Paul were correct
who said, "Let us sin that grace may abound."
If this was a valid principle that God followed, Hitler will be
credited for the destruction of his own evil philosophy. It was his
prejudice that made him drive Einstein, Bohr, Fermi, and others from
Germany, and they became the nucleus around which American and
British scientists rallied to produce the atom bomb. Good came out of
the folly and hatred of Hitler, but that was God's doing, and is no
credit to Hitler.
Without balance every truth has the danger of leading to error. A
temperature is good, for it warns of a problem in the body, and it
fights the infection, but we all know that if it goes to an extreme, it
kills you. So it is with the truth that God brings good out of evil. This
truth can lead to promoting and justifying evil, if pushed to extremes.
For example, 50 thousand people are killed on U. S. highways each
year. Believe it or not, that means big business for junk dealers,
repair men, doctors, hospitals, lawyers, and florists. In other words,
there is good that comes out of the evil of accidents, but only a fool
would say, therefore, accidents are good, and should be promoted.
Instead, we do all we can to fight them and prevent them, and so it is
with all evil. The Christian is to prevent all forms of evil as far as
possible. However, there will always be some evil that we cannot
prevent. When it comes you have the choice of letting it defeat you, or
of cooperating with God, who will help you to bring good out of evil.
