Introduction
Did you know that God uses evil for good? He plays evil like a fiddle to accomplish his goals. He is constantly doing this back when the Bible was written and to this very day.
We all know that God used Jesus' death on the cross for his good. The devil thought he finally beat God, but God turned around that evil act for his good and defeated death.
Here are two more ways in just a few short verses in the book of Acts that you may have missed.
Saul Converts
First, In the book of Acts we meet our first Christian martyr named, Stephen. He is persecuted and put to death by stoning after he told them about Jesus.
(Acts 7:58) "And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul."
Notice that Saul was there. Saul persecuted Stephen and other Christians mightily. Saul later becomes Paul the apostle. Saul listened to Stephen speak about Jesus and shortly thereafter got saved. As the Bible says:
(Romans 10:17) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
God used the death of Stephen to preach the gospel to Saul. Saul became Paul who then went on to be the apostle to the Gentiles and write the most books of the Bible.
Gospel Spread Around
Secondly, notice just 3 verses later that Saul went on a persecution binge against the church at Jerusalem.
(Acts 8:1) "And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles."
Notice because of Saul's persecution that all the Christians got scattered about. That scattering had the effect of spreading the gospel. Just in case you missed it the Bible reaffirms this message a few verses later.
(Acts 8:3-4) "As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. {4} Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word."
Conclusion
So there you go. Two ways God used evil events for his good to accomplish his plan. If not for the death of Stephen, maybe Saul never hears the gospel , and if not for Saul persecuting Christians maybe the gospel doesn't get spread around as quickly.
If we are paying attention we see this very same thing happen today in our own lives. God is always using evil events that end up backfiring for the devil and turning into good things.
How To Get Saved
If you are not saved yet by Jesus Christ for all of eternity, God wants you to know that you can be. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. God loves us so much he gave his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins on the cross even though we don't even deserve it. He was then buried for 3 days, and then gloriously resurrected 3 days later.
This is what the Bible says about how you can be saved:
(Acts 16:30-31) "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? {31} And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
If you want to know more about salvation and how to live a victorious Christian life after you get saved, I have a salvation guide on profile or here: