My dear readers,

All Things Work Together for Good?

Proverbs 12:21: “There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.”

Will all things work together for good in your life? Proverbs 12:21 reveals two contrasting outcomes to life’s adversities: not all things will work together for good to all but only to some.

Life is a series of problems from childhood to adulthood. There is no let-up of adversities in life. The trials of life increase with age, and even as the body weakens, they become harder to bear. These trials happen to all, including God’s children. If the LORD would only make His children indestructible and invincible, all trials would fall off their spiritual backs like water off a duck’s back! However, the reality is as far from this wishful thinking as the moon is from the sun! Believers will endure more trials in life than unbelievers because they have Satan, the god of this world, against them as they earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints.

From Satan’s perspective, these believers once served sin and followed his deceptive ways as depraved sinners. They were once his instruments of evil. Now they have become weapons in the devil’s Enemies’ hand, i.e. in the hand of the Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ! They would be untouchable if saved and taken home to glory. But then they have been tasked to remain behind in the devil’s world of deception, sin and wickedness. In that case, they become candidates for the devil’s unending attacks, not to rob them of their salvation, which even the devil cannot do, but to destroy their holy witness for Christ on earth, and ruin the lives of the people who know and have been blessed by their lives and service for Christ. But concerning a professing believer who looks like a Christian in every way except for his unregenerated heart, evil will characterize his life due to the seed of evil growing within.

Proverbs 12:21 warns of two consequences.

The literal translation is “Nothing will befall to the just, all mischief: but the wicked shall be filled with evil.” To the child of God, God promises that no matter how huge or evil the problem is, nothing will hurt him (the righteous). We know of many saints who have been martyred for their faith. Was not James the first Apostle to be martyred for his faith in Christ (cf. Acts 12:2)? The phrase “nothing will hurt the just” does not concern physical pain or suffering, even death. Its meaning is spiritual. If the just has strayed away from the Lord, and adversities come, God the Father is sending chastisement to bring His child back to holiness in repentance. How can this be evil? It is good for the wayward believer who needs to stop sinning and ruining the holy name of Christ that he bears. When he repents of his sin, he returns to God holily, and his holy witness is restored.

If he is walking right with God and adversities come, including evil men, the righteous knows that his Heavenly Father allows them to strengthen his faith and deepen his trust in Christ. Once he passes the test, he becomes spiritually more mature. Even if he fails, he will repent immediately and return to the Lord, knowing he has much to learn and remains humble and teachable. How can these be evil? That is why God says that for all His children, whom He watches over all the time, “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

All that God's children experience will always be for their good.

Conversely, the wicked will be filled with evil. He is filled with evil because he is evil to begin with. His heart is as dark as coal. Everything he touches will have the aura of evil. He communicates with evil intentions. Lies and deceptions characterize his life. His outward demeanour usually masks his true evil self. In this way, he effectively deceives his victims into believing he is upright and kind. He calls himself a Christian to worm his way into the fold to devour Christ’s flock. The aim is to hurt and maim believers’ faith and relationships between Christian brethren. The result is to drive them from Christ to shake their faith in Him and ruin the Christian fellowships that have taken years to build.

To do maximum damage, his methods have to be subtle. He will speak softly like the whispering leaves of the weeping willows swaying in the gentlest breeze. His words are like the sweetest honey but always laced with the smallest amount of arsenic so that its bitterness is cunningly masked. With frequent flavourful interaction and the sowing of the seeds of discord, he succeeds in poisoning the minds of his unsuspecting victims against all whom he targets. There is no limit to his evil deeds. No person is outside of his target scope.

His deeds will be filled with helpfulness but always with a heavy invisible chain attached. The unsuspecting victims who receive his financial help or any form of material kindness will fall prey to his dastardly deeds, thinking he is indeed God-sent. He will dress in an acceptable and unassuming manner, always looking proper. His appearance resembles a mild-mannered, harmless-looking godly believer with groomed short hair, pressed shirts and creaseless pants. He seems smart and approachable all the time in public.

He will talk with his head slightly bowed to show humility. He hardly raises his voice in public, but his tirade is like a roaring lion seeking to devour when he confronts anyone who sees through his masquerade. The poor recipient would not be believed even if he told others what this evil man is like, who privately roared at him and hurled threats and diabolical warnings. His public outward demeanour of a lamb, which he has sown for years, works like a charm. He likes to be seen in public with the right people around him and stands by their side whenever a photo is taken. He likes to be in the good graces of the relevant persons to advance himself to leadership positions to maximize his damage for the cause of his god, the devil. He invites them to his multi-million-dollar home for meals to “study” them, like a man studying an insect under a microscope. After completing his homework, he will execute his plan and slowly but surely worm his way into the church leadership like the evil kings of the Old Testament.

These evil men have destroyed many churches. Many lives have been ruined, and their faith has been severely damaged, for they left sound churches that would have helped them grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord; instead, they went to ecumenical churches, thus ruining their lives and their witness for Christ. The lives of these evil men are filled with evil planning and plotting. They use people for their delusional and vain self-aggrandizement. They live sad and bitter lives, full of misery that creates havoc in the lives of others. Such evil men will receive their just reward from the Holy God on the day of judgment.

God’s children are always protected by their almighty heavenly Father, even against these evil men and their mischief. All things will work together for their good. However, the God-given human responsibility is that they need to know God's Word well to discern and protect themselves from these evil men, for they are already here.