Acts 24-26.... We assume that "bad" things which happen to us are not in God's will. For instance, consider the case of Paul who was sentenced unjustly to prison for two years. We might affirm that this was "bad" and served no purpose except to make him suffer even when he was innocent. We might also assume that Paul's decision to appeal to Caesar was a random mistake that resulted in even more suffering. We would be wrong in both instances!
Why? Because God had both a plan and a purpose in these things - a role for Paul to fulfill that would bring the Gospel of hope to thousands of people...a task that might never have been completed had neither of these so called "bad" events happened to him.
We must, I believe, be asking ourselves two questions whenever we find ourselves in the kinds of situations that we would normally judge to be bad. The first is, "What do I believe might be God's purpose for me in the midst of or as a result of this situation?" Secondly, we should be intentionally looking for ways in which God can be glorified in the way I respond to the trouble I find myself in.
If Paul's behavior is any indication, he continually asked both of these throughout his years of imprisonment. Nothing is hopeless when God is present or when we are operating in the midst of his will and purposes.
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