How God Uses Everything for Good

On Friday I got off a phone call with a friend who shared with me a little bit about what it was like for his mom to be diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. It was tough to hear an experience like that, and many people can relate to the personal hardship of illness. But he also shared that God sometimes uses the darkest times in our lives for great things in the future. And though I agree with him, I often hesitate to preach a similar message.

Life is tough, and I never want to come across as unempathetic to a person by sharing a quick cliché like, “God will use this for good.” But ultimately, the reason people even say these things in the first place is because of a well-known verse from Romans 8:28: “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.”

There’s a never-ending debate in Christianity about whether God is involved in the events of the world or if everything is left to free will. I’m not going to get into that, but I do know that there is truth to the verse in Romans. Sometimes hard times produce in us something fruitful, and whether it takes a few months or a few years, we can see it in time. Even recently my bitterness toward the profession of teaching has changed after time allowed it to heal. Once I saw the big picture, I was able to see the good in it, and the good that God produced from it.

If you’re in the middle of a difficult experience, it might be hard to read something like Romans 8:28. But when the time comes, you might able to read it and remind yourself of how God used a harsh event to produce something beautiful. In this we have hope, because we have a God who can transform lives, give us a new purpose, and create something special. We have a God who works for the good of those who love him.