“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28
Carried through.
Has God ever carried you through something difficult? Has He brought you through something you still don’t understand in terms of why you went through it? I’ve got a few of those things in my years and I think, “Why, God? Why this? Why this way?” It makes me wonder in the moment whether God is still good and if He really is working things together for good.
There’s something about the unknown that we don’t like. If we can’t see the reason for it, we think it must be there only to hurt us. If it’s uncomfortable or undesirable to us, we might feel as though we’ve stepped out of God’s will or that we’re being punished for some kind of disobedience.
Sometimes it’s not about what we’ve done that has brought our circumstances to our current reality. Remember the old guy Job in the Bible? He was righteous and yet God allowed the devil to mess with him for awhile to prove that Job would still be obedient and trust God even though everything he had was taken and his own body was covered in boils. What a painful reality and a painful season for him, yet it wasn’t at all because he had sinned.
We don’t always understand God’s reasons for allowing everything we experience, but we can trust that He sees what we cannot see and He’s walking through it with us.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
Isaiah 43:2
Be still and know.
Do you think God has a plan for everything in your life, even the hard things? Even whatever you’re going through right now? Even the big things in your past?
God is often bringing beauty out of ashes in the lives of His people. Lazarus was allowed to die before Jesus slowly made his way into town days after hearing he was dying. Why? God knows. I suppose because more people were amazed and blessed by the resurrection they witnessed than if Lazarus had never passed away and life had gone on as just another day. We don’t realize how God uses pain and the people He brings into our lives during seasons of struggle or loss. He’s truly working it out for good on a level we are just not going to understand here on Earth.
If the pain and ashes are often part of His story, then why do we worry so much when we go through it? If God is weaving together a tapestry that we cannot yet see, then why do we complain when a stitch looks out of place to us? If His plan and actions are working together for our good future, why should we stress when our present situations seem rocky?
When I sit still with God, I remember His goodness and what He has already brought me through. I know He has good plans for me that I can fearlessly pursue without having to figure it out and calculate everything. Whether or not we see the tapestry completed on this side of Heaven, we can know it will work out as we simply trust in the Lord and choose daily to not lean on our own understanding.
Takeaway Action/Challenge: What’s got you worried and stressed out right now? What are the situations and outcomes of your circumstances that seem to be anything other than good from God’s hand? I challenge you to sit with God and give each of those to Him in prayer. Entrust those places of your life to Him and know that whatever happens is from the Lord for a reason. He is sovereign over everything. Know that He is God and at the end of the day knows you better than you know yourself and can see what you cannot see.
