How Does God "Use" Things?

What do we mean when we say that God "used" a situation or circumstance for good? How we answer that question says a lot about our understanding of God's sovereignty. 

Often the underlying assumption when someone talks about God using a situation for good seems to be that the situation or incident was bad or evil, and therefore God had nothing to do with it, almost as if God was taken by surprise at the event. But in spite of that evil thing that happened, God was somehow able to redeem the situation and bring some kind of good from it. An example might be someone being killed in an accident, and lots of people hearing the gospel through the person's funeral, or some similar circumstances.

But if we really have a Biblical view of God's omnipotence and omniscience, we will know that even events that are bad from our perspective, and even evil, are not surprises to God, or outside of his sovereignty. We have to affirm that all that comes to pass is in some sense ordained by God, yet in such a way that he is not the author of evil or sin.

One of the most familiar Scriptures that speaks to this subject is in Genesis chapter 50, quoting Joseph's understanding of the purposes behind his being sold into slavery by his brothers. In v. 20 he tells them, "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." Here we see the difference in motives and purposes between man and God. Joseph's brothers intended evil towards him in their actions, but God's overriding purpose was to accomplish good. God "used" these evil actions of Joseph's brothers by in some sense bringing them about, with a purpose of ultimate good (as are all of God's purposes), even while the intentions of the brothers, and the effects of their actions, were evil.

One of my favorite passages relating to this topic is in Romans 8, where Paul says in v. 28 that "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (NASB) Do bad, evil things happen to Christians, those who love God and are called by the gospel of Christ? Absolutely, that's the point of Paul's whole argument in chapter 8. But where do these things come from? What's their cause? Paul here says that ultimately, it's God. But what's his purpose? The good of his people. It's the sovereign grace and purpose of God to bring ultimate good for his elect, and ultimate glory to himself, that provides the perspective to rightly understand evil circumstances in our lives, and to see how God uses these things.

As for me, that gives me great comfort and hope in the midst of hard times. As it should for all who have Christ as Savior.

PS: Shortly after writing this today I read the following from Berkhof's Systematic Theology, that bears directly on the point I'm trying to make:

“In the case of some things God decided, not merely that they would come to pass, but that He Himself would bring them to pass, either immediately, as in the work of creation, or through the mediation of secondary causes, which are continually energized by His power. He Himself assumes the responsibility for their coming to pass. There are other things, however, which God included in His decree and thereby rendered certain, but which He did not decide to effectuate Himself, as the sinful acts of His rational creatures. The decree, in so far as it pertains to these acts, is generally called God’s permissive decree. This name does not imply that the futurition of these acts is not certain to God, but simply that He permits them to come to pass by the free agency of His rational creatures. God assumes no responsibility for these sinful acts whatsoever.”