When can we determine that an event is something the enemy meant for evil, and what God will do with that evil?
As I rode in the back of the ambulance with an EMT assessing my numerous dog bites, I thought about the coming weeks. How would I work? Make my writing deadlines? Keep up with ministry and family demands? This was serious. Being the victim of an animal trained to kill certainly felt like a literal attack from the enemy. How would God use what the enemy meant for evil for good this time?
When I was discharged from the hospital, the doctor warned that healing from the concussion required no reading, writing, or screens for weeks. He also cautioned that animal puncture wounds are a nasty habit of developing abscesses, and I should be vigilant for signs of them. I couldn’t read. I couldn’t work. I couldn’t write.
The dog wasn’t my enemy. He had only done what his owner had trained him to do. Even the owner wasn’t my enemy, just a troubled soul. Still, everyone who follows Jesus has an enemy in Satan, who capitalizes on hardships in life, trying to rob our joy or confuse our thinking about God. The abscesses happened, and recovery requiring physical therapy took weeks. As I reclined in a lawn chair beneath the trees, listening to the wind trying to follow the doctor’s order to rest, I comforted myself with the trials of biblical figures. Like Joseph.
In Genesis 50:25, Joseph, Jacob’s eleventh son, told his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (ESV). Appreciating the magnitude of that statement helps us understand Joseph’s story.
Where Does the Bible Talk about What the Enemy Meant for Evil?
The Bible tells the story of Joseph, the dreamer, from Genesis 37-50. Before his younger brother Benjamin was born, Joseph was the youngest of Jacob’s sons, and the only son by Rachel, the wife Jacob truly loved. So, Jacob favored Joseph, displaying his favor with a coat of many colors.
When he was an older adolescent, Joseph told his brothers about two dreams he had, both of which indicated that he would one day rule over them. Jacob often sent Joseph to check on his brothers, and Joseph returned bad reports when there were issues. The last time his father sent him out, the brothers had had their fill.
They plotted to kill Joseph and be done with him for good, but Reuben, the oldest, intervened. Instead of ending his life, they threw Joseph into a deep pit. Reuben thought eventually to rescue him, but when Reuben was not with them, the other brothers sold Joseph to a passing band of Midianite traders who took Joseph as a slave to Egypt.
There, Joseph became the overseer of Potiphar’s house. Potiphar was an officer of the Pharaoh and the captain of the guard. He entrusted all the management of his affairs to Joseph until, one day, Potiphar’s wife tried to entice Joseph to sleep with her. When he refused, she accused him of accosting her, and Potiphar threw Joseph into prison.
In prison, Joseph earned the favor of the prison keeper. He was treated well and made responsible for other prisoners. When Pharaoh sent his cupbearer and baker to prison for an offense, Joseph interpreted their dreams accurately. He asked the cupbearer to remember him to Pharaoh when he was restored to his position, but the cupbearer forgot about Joseph for two years.
Finally, when Pharaoh had a dream no one could understand, the cupbearer remembered Joseph. By God’s doing, Joseph interpreted the dream for Pharaoh. Egypt and the surrounding lands were to enjoy seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. They would need a wise and responsible manager during the first seven years to survive those that followed. Pharaoh put Joseph in charge.
Because of this, when Joseph’s family came to Egypt seeking food, Joseph was able to save them and deliver them from perishing. This is why Joseph told his brothers that what the enemy meant for evil, God meant for good (Genesis 50:25).
How Did God Use What the Enemy Meant for Evil in Joseph’s Life?
What Joseph’s brothers did was wrong. Joseph suffered much wrong at the hands of others—his brothers, Potiphar’s wife, and even the cupbearer. Repeatedly, the writer of Genesis tells us that God was with Joseph, but that doesn’t mean he was spared betrayal, false accusation, injustice, slavery, imprisonment, and being forgotten. God’s presence with us in this life doesn’t mean we’ll have it easy, but we won’t endure alone.
Joseph sees, however, how God used every circumstance to develop his skills (his experience managing Potiphar’s household and overseeing other prisoners) and put him before the highest power in the land (interpreting the dream of the cupbearer) so that he would be in a position to deliver his family. Joseph suffers, for certain, as does his father, Jacob. They were apart for over twenty-two years, and during that time, Jacob believed his son had died (the brothers covered Joseph’s coat with goat’s blood). Joseph’s life is marked with suffering and God’s favor and presence. God leads him into a place of power, and by the time he is reunited with his father, Joseph has his own sons.
Joseph’s story clearly demonstrates that God’s presence and favor do not mean a life of ease or a life completely shielded from misfortune. However, God has the final word on every circumstance of our lives. He can and does use what the enemy intended for evil for good.
Psalm 37:7 says, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (ESV) This verse is all the more comforting when we see it lived out by Joseph and other men and women in the Bible.
Who Are Some Other Bible Characters Who Saw Evil Plans Turn to Good?
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God's people are rarely shielded from hardships and trials. We know that Joseph’s family was delivered by coming to Egypt during Joseph’s time. Still, four hundred years later, we learn another Pharaoh has enslaved them and must be delivered from Egypt. God used Moses to do this. His life, too, illustrates “what the enemy meant for evil” God can use for good. The Pharaoh of that time sought to kill every male Hebrew shortly after birth, but Moses’ mother hid him in a basket on the Nile, and he was taken in by one of Pharaoh’s daughters. Eventually, God used Moses to deliver his people.
Esther was orphaned, living with her relative Mordecai in a land far from her homeland because of the Dispersion. Due to her beauty, she was taken into the king’s harem and eventually chosen to be his queen. This wasn’t the life Esther had imagined for herself, but when Mordecai learned of a plot by Haman to kill all the Jews, Esther was in the right place to intercede for their deliverance.
In biblical accounts and church history, we see that believers' suffering is not wasted. We aren’t always prevented from experiencing fiery trials, but, like Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, Jesus is present with us through those trials. He often uses what our enemy intends for evil to bring about good.
Does God Still Change What the Enemy Meant for Evil Today?
Paul, the other apostles, and early followers of Jesus experienced intense trials as they spread the gospel and sought to live like Jesus. While in some parts of the world, Christians live in relative freedom, there are large parts of the world today where believers suffer persecution in Jesus’ name. Even when we’re not persecuted, we are all impacted by the sins of others, sinful cultures, and sinful world systems.
Still, we know that God is sovereign in our lives. Paul reassures us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (ESV). This verse doesn’t teach that all things that happen to us are good (It certainly wasn’t good for Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery. It’s not good for Christians to be imprisoned or killed for their faith). However, it does teach that God will work it out for good.
It wasn’t good that I was injured because someone trained what might have once been a good dog to hurt people. However, God used that circumstance to teach me about His healing, to remove my fear of large dogs, and to help make me better able to minister to others who have been through trauma. It wasn’t good, but God brought good out of it. It even taught me the benefits of rest.
What Do We Do If We Don’t See God Changing What the Enemy Meant for Evil?
Sometimes, we are privileged to see the good God brings out of evil in our lives (as we see with St. Patrick), while other times, we wait and wonder. Joseph spent many years in situations that didn’t look like anything good before God revealed his full purpose.
In more modern times, we know the story of Corrie ten Boom, who endured a Nazi prison camp for her family’s part in hiding Jews in their home. We praise God that Corrie survived and spent years testifying to God’s goodness and the power of forgiveness. But we also recall that her father died shortly after his arrest, and her sister, Betsie, died in the prison camp. They both loved the Lord, too, but we must have faith that their early departure from this world was the best good God brought for them from the enemy’s evil. We rejoiced that they died knowing Jesus and were welcomed into His arms when they passed from this world to the next.
Even in death, the enemy’s evil does not have the final word for those who love the Lord because we realize our eternal life with Christ.
Jesus endured suffering when He lived and ministered among us. He was rejected, ridiculed, mocked, persecuted, falsely accused, arrested, unjustly tried, beaten, and crucified on the cross. The enemy meant this for evil, but God meant it for our good. Jesus defeated death and rose triumphantly to live forever, and because of Him, so will all who trust Him for salvation.
When we don’t see God changing what the enemy meant for evil into good, we must remember how, initially, it appeared the crucifixion defeated Christ but also remember the ultimate triumph of His resurrection. God has the final word on every trial, hardship, and every one of our lives, and in Christ, that “final word” is resurrection life.
Photo Credit:©GettyImages/kaipong
Lori Stanley Roeleveld is a blogger, speaker, coach, and disturber of hobbits. She’s authored six encouraging, unsettling books, including Running from a Crazy Man, The Art of Hard Conversations, and Graceful Influence: Making a Lasting Impact through Lesson from Women of the Bible. She speaks her mind at www.loriroeleveld.com.
This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy to read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. It is our hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God's Word in relation to your life today.
"Be Still and Know that I Am God"
"Pray Without Ceasing"
"Fearfully and Wonderfully Made"
"All Things Work Together for Good"
"Do Not Fear"