Hayley Morgan said something that struck me to my core the other day – God is good all the time. She talked about how she used to expect bad things to happen. Similarly, I have a problem thinking the same way. I expect the reason why someone is late to meet me is that they got in a car accident, or the reason why something recently happened is because I can expect to have a late miscarriage of the baby I am currently carrying.
Romans 8:28 says, “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.” Well, this can be hard to believe, especially in the midst of suffering. It’s hard to trust at that time and really hard to know what to expect from a God who allows suffering to happen. This can lead to doubts, which is okay. It can also lead to us going back to God and seeking after him harder and with more regularity than maybe what we were doing before.
After having studied the Bible, and what we know to be true of God, sometimes he does discipline out of love for his children or allow things to happen, but that is not always the case. He wants to draw us back to himself and maybe that’s why we are enduring suffering.
Hayley continued to say how she had to change the way she thought – God works for good friend! Her words challenged me to think God is working for my good. And for your good!
I need to change my thoughts and speak truth to myself about the goodness of God. Yes, bad things happen, God allows it. God might not intentionally be causing bad things to happen and while we don’t know, we have to do what Job said after he found out that his family had died and everything he owned was destroyed, “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:20-21)
Sometimes our suffering is to bring God glory. I’m sure you’ve heard from me or someone else that God turns hard times into something he uses for his glory. I truly believe this because I’ve lived it on multiple occasions. Granted, I’d rather not have to go through something difficult and painful, but God can and does use that struggle for his glory. One man, in John 9, Jesus and his disciples came across a blind man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked Jesus who had sinned – the blind man or his parents. Jesus told them that neither of them had sinned, but that the works of God were going to be displayed through the man. Then, he healed him.
So my dear, my challenge for you today is to check how you’re thinking. Do you assume good or bad? Maybe you too need to check how you’re thinking. If this something you want to dig into deeper, go get my book, Created for This, where I have a few devotionals related to this topic and what happens when things don’t go well.
