God is Good

Romans 8

²⁸And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

I used to use this verse to mean that I got what I wanted. That since God works all things together for my good (if I love God), then that means only good things will happen to me, right?

And sometimes, it's stuff that seems pretty reasonable. There are times when you ask for healing, times when you plead for a friend who's turned his back on God, times when you wish that you or the people around you didn't have to suffer so much. I don't want pain, and it hurts me to see the difficult situations of those around me as well. And as much as I pray for God to take away the sorrow, what I want the most is for everyone to understand Romans 8:28.

There are moments when things seem dark and you wonder why God isn't working, and then something happens and you see that everything turned out well in the end. I used to have that, and then say, ah-ha! God does indeed work everything out for good. But I think that I reversed the order.

What this verse means to me now (though I know I don't fully hold onto it as I should) is that God works all things for the good of those who love Him. What it means to me now is that when things are dark, and I don't know what good can come out of what's going on right now. When God doesn't seem to answer my prayers, or says no to something that means so much to me, and seems so reasonable to me--this verse tells me that God is good, and I have to trust that beyond all the things that are happening now.

I don't see the big picture, and I may never, ever understand what God's big plan is, or how He works things out for good, but even though I don't, the most important thing is to trust that God is good, that God loves me, and that God allowed this to happen for a purpose.

The verse isn't something that just corresponds with our experiences--it's something that's supposed to define our experiences. When we don't understand and are left in the dark, let's hold onto this verse, though honestly it's so tough. All we can do is pray to the Lord and pray that He would give us the faith to believe in His goodness.

Romans 8

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

³²He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

...

³⁴who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

...

³⁷But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.