God Turns Bad To Good
David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. -- 2 Samuel 12:16
David wanted his child to live. He understood God’s anger. David realized -- after the prophet Nathan pointed it out -- that he had sinned greatly. David had desired Uriah’s wife and had taken her. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David had Uriah sent to the frontline of the battle so that he would be killed. Adultery and murder. No amount of repentance would change the consequences of David’s actions.
Isn’t that how it is with us sometimes? We do something we know is wrong but we can’t seem to help ourselves. We repent. We regret what we did. We want It to all go away. We ask God to forgive us, and He does. But the consequences of our actions remain. Sometimes those consequences seem unbearable.
David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the LORD will be gracious to me and let the child live.’
-- 2 Samuel 12:22
God decided that David’s punishment would be the death of the child he and Bathsheba had conceived in sin. David begged God to change His mind. The consequences seemed so great and David cried out in anguish to his loving Father. God would not relent and the child died.
We do the same when we are faced with horrible consequences. We beg God to change the outcome. We’re sorry. We won’t do it again. We just don’t want to suffer. We don’t want others to suffer. We want it to all to go away. But sin comes with consequences. One more reason to thank Jesus for taking our sins upon Himself and saving us from certain death.
“But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.” -- 2 Samuel 12:23
After the child died, David stopped begging God to change His mind. It was too late for that. David’s advisors didn’t understand why their king, who had mourned greatly for his child before he died, would cast off his mourning now that the child had died. David understood that God would not undo what He had already done. David’s child was dead. So David moved forward to comfort his wife and come to terms with his child’s death.
Isn’t that all we can ever do when the consequences of our sin molds itself around us with an unwavering truth? Those consequences don’t leave us. Yes, God has forgiven our sin but we live with the results. We can either stay mired in the misery of our guilt or cast it off and move forward with God’s grace and forgiveness.
Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that his name should be Jeddah -- “beloved of the LORD” -- because the LORD loved him. -- 2 Samuel 12:24-25
God assures us that no matter what has happened, no matter what we have done, He will turn it to good if we’ll turn back to Him and sin no more. Good from bad. That’s the promise God has made. In David’s case, the next son born to he and Bathsheba would become a great and wise king.
God can turn your sin to good as well. Do you trust Him to do that? Have you handed yourself over to Him, to be remade and reworked into something glorious? God can do miracles with the messes we’ve made. Hand your mess over to Him and watch God show you His glory.
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