Good out of bad

"The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God--he and his whole household." Acts 16:34

On April 23, Matt Campbell, a 29-year-old "MasterChef" semifinalist, collapsed at mile 22.5 of the London Marathon and died a day later. Very shortly after Campbell's death, Matt Dorber, who also ran the London Marathon and saw the potential to bring something good out of this tragedy, launched a Facebook page called Finish For Matt where he laid out three rules for participants: They had to run 3.7 miles (the distance Matt had left to finish), post a photo of their run with the hashtag FinishforMatt and donate whatever they could to Brathay Trust, the charity for which Campbell ran. And because of this effort to pay tribute to Campbell, 65,000 miles (and counting) have been run with 55 countries and 17,000 people getting involved (with more joining every day), and more than 340,000 pounds have been raised. To say that a lot of good came out of this loss would be an understatement.

But you know what? God is an expert at bringing good out of bad situations. Consider what happened to Paul and Silas while they were traveling through Philippi. After they had been stripped, beaten and severely flogged for casting a demon out of a female slave, they were thrown in prison where they were placed in stocks and put under the careful guard of the jailer. And while that could surely be classified as a 'bad situation', it turned out for the good when, after a series of events, the jailer and his whole household came to "believe in God." But consider this... if Paul and Silas had not been in that less-than-ideal position, who would have told the jailer about Jesus? 

So if you're experiencing suffering, heartbreak or find yourself in a 'bad situation' today, have faith my friend. As God has proven time and again, He will use these times in ways that we can never imagine to bring about good... both to us and to others. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for taking our hurts, sorrows and pain and using them to teach us and bless others. Helps us to be patient during these times as we trust that You are indeed working all things for good. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

All things - Covenant Worship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR-WF7J6Sf8