All in one day, this is what I experienced:— My neighbor’s house was destroyed by fire.— A friend  went hiking, injured her foot  and could barely walk.— A person I care about was given a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.That same evening I received this call: “I’m so scared,” my friend cried on the phone.  “I’ve locked myself in my room. . . . . But they [husband/father and his teenager] are fighting, shouting. . .  I think they’ve been drinking.  . . . I’m afraid of his anger.. . .  Oh, why, does God let this happen?!   How can you tell me that God cares and still  let’s this stuff go on?”I brought her tough question before the LORD.  The Holy Spirit’s response was this:  “Man and Satan’s evil acts are under God’s control.”  When I pressed further into scripture, I was reminded of the evil things man has done. And how God intervened.Take the case of Pharaoh:  Repeatedly God said (Ex. 4:21 et al.)  that He, the Sovereign Lord, had hardened Pharoah’s heart towards the Israelites for the purpose of orchestrating the Promised People’s deliverance.Take the case of the prophet Micaiah:  He saw the LORD sitting on his throne (1 King 22:22-23), and heard the LORD permit a lying spirit to enter the false prophets for the purpose of bringing judgment on a disobedient people.Take the case of Herod and Pilot (Acts. 4:28):  “They did what your [God’s] power and will decided beforehand. . .” to bring about the crucifixion of Jesus.  This evil act brought salvation to mankind.For each “bad” situation, victory follows. Slavery, judgment, or death  came first — allowed by God in His sovereign will.  But, for each difficulty caused or permitted by the Almighty, good came out of the mess.The Bible is full of testimonies in which Godbrings beauty out of ashes (Is. 61:3),creates more fruit out of pruning (John 15:2),generates holiness out of discipline (Heb. 12:6).The horrors of the crucifixion caused resurrection power to explode into our lives.  “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (I Cor. 15:54)It is our lack of faith which makes it difficult to own this truth.  We need to believe that our God calls into existence things that we don’t see existing. (Rom. 4:17). —  When we see the ashes,we need to believe God CAN and Will make them beautiful.—  When we experience the fight, we need to believe God is the victor! —  When we see death, we must believe in the resurrection to follow. In Christ,