The Enemy Meant It for Evil, but God Meant It for Good

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good,

in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

Genesis 50:20

Did you watch Megyn Kelly’s interview with Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar last night? It really answered a lot of questions for me and made me realize that, if I admired them before, I admire them ten times more now. There are still things I disagree with them on, but that doesn’t make the way they have chosen to handle this situation any less commendable. They were humble. They were honest. They were even thankful to Megyn Kelly for sharing their story. I saw no anger. I saw no hatefulness. All I saw was two people who are resting in the mercy, grace, and forgiveness of their Savior.

I liked when Jim Bob said (my paraphrase), “No, we didn’t really want this to come out. But now that it has, maybe those who have done something similar can look at what Josh has been through and realize that, if God could forgive him and give him a new life, He can do the same for them too.” I tell you what’s the truth, they’re handling it a lot better than I probably would. They have had so many people say so many horrible things about them in the last few weeks, and they have nothing but grace and forgiveness for those people.

As I was listening to their story, I couldn’t help but think of the verse in Genesis 50 that says, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” I tell you I think God’s going to do just that as long as they will continue to surrender their lives to Him. The enemy meant to destroy them, but God means to draw them closer to Him. The enemy meant to turn people away from the Duggars and away from God, but God wants to use the Duggars to show His mercy, forgiveness, and grace. God is still in the forgiving business, and I believe He wants to use the Duggar family to declare that to the world.

Maybe you can’t find it in your heart to forgive Josh Duggar for what he did over a decade ago, but do you not know that Jesus said, “I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart”(Matthew 5:28)? We are also told in 1 John 3:15 that “whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him”. The Bible makes it clear that God judges us not only according to our actions but according to the contents of our hearts. So I ask you, how is your heart today?

Josh Duggar confessed his sins to his parents and to God and sought godly counsel and forgiveness. You see, there is not one sin that Jesus didn’t die for. Adrian Rogers used to say, “There is no one so good he need not be saved, and there is no one so bad he cannot be saved.” The Bible tells us in 1 John 1:9 that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Do you know that forgiveness firsthand today? If you will simply repent of your sins and trust Christ alone to save you, He will save you today and keep you saved forever.