What Was Meant for Harm, God Can Use for Good

There are some things in life we would never choose.

We wouldn't choose the heartbreak.

We wouldn't choose the betrayal.

We wouldn't choose the loss.

We wouldn't choose the years when nothing seems to go according to plan.

And while we're living through those seasons, it can be nearly impossible to imagine anything good ever coming from them.

But time has a way of giving us a view we didn't have while we were standing in the middle of the storm.

I think about Joseph often when I think about this. His own brothers betrayed him and sold him into slavery. He was falsely accused, imprisoned, forgotten—and yet years later, he was able to look at the very people who had harmed him and say:

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” — Genesis 50:20

I've always loved that Scripture because Joseph didn't pretend what happened to him was good.

It wasn't.

He didn't excuse the people who hurt him. He didn't pretend the suffering didn't matter. He simply recognized that what other people intended for harm did not get the final word. God did.

And I think that's an important distinction.

Sometimes we expect God's redemption to mean He will put everything back exactly the way it was before.

But I've learned that sometimes He doesn't.

Sometimes He builds something new.

The road you never wanted to travel takes you somewhere you never would have gone otherwise.

The thing that broke your heart teaches you compassion.

The season when you thought you had nothing left shows you what really matters.

The closed door forces you toward another one.

And the years you once thought were wasted become the very years God uses to prepare you for what comes next.

Then one day, sometimes many years later, you look around and realize:

I'm standing in a life I never planned—and yet God has been here all along.

I can look across Kindred Acres today and see evidence of that.

This farm, this life, the animals in the pasture, children and grandchildren coming and going, bread rising in the kitchen, projects that seem to multiply faster than I can finish them—none of it represents a perfectly planned life.

Far from it.

There have been chapters I would never want to live again. There have been disappointments, losses, changes and prayers that weren't answered the way I thought they should be.

But looking back, I can also see places where God was working when I couldn't see Him working at all.

Maybe that's one reason farm life speaks to me so deeply.

Out here, you learn pretty quickly that you aren't in control of everything.

Pastures turn brown.

Rain doesn't come when you need it.

Storms roll through.

Seeds disappear beneath the dirt, and for a while there is absolutely no evidence that anything is happening.

And then one morning, something green pushes through the soil.

The rain finally comes.

The pasture grows again.

Life returns.

The dry season was real. But it wasn't the end of the story.

Maybe that's true of us, too.

Romans 8:28 tells us that God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

It doesn't say everything that happens to us is good.

Some things simply aren't.

People can hurt us. Circumstances can change our lives. There are losses we carry with us and questions we may never have answered this side of Heaven.

But none of those things are beyond God's ability to redeem.

I've lived long enough now to look back at prayers I'm thankful God answered—and a few I'm very thankful He didn't answer the way I wanted Him to.

I've seen things I once thought would destroy me become part of what redirected me and brought me to a more beautiful place than I could have ever

imagined possible.

And I've watched blessings grow from soil I never would have chosen.

Maybe that's what faith looks like sometimes.

Not understanding.

Not pretending everything is fine.

Not having every answer.

Just standing in the middle of a chapter we don't understand and trusting that we haven't reached the last page yet.

The picture accompanying this post is a sunset over Kindred Acres.

I've watched many sunsets from this farm, and there's something fitting about them. An ending can be breathtakingly beautiful when you know another morning is coming.

That's true of seasons.

And I've learned it's true of life.

I don't know everything the next chapter holds. None of us do.

But I know Who holds it.

And I've lived enough of this story to trust the Author.

What was meant for harm doesn't get to decide how the story ends. God does.

— Cindy ~ Kindred Acres Farmstead ❤️