How Can This Be Good?

Every day at 7:30am, my Bible app alerts me with the Verse of the Day. If I’m honest, most of the time I click it to get my daily streak count and move on. But there are days where the Lord uses it to really grab my attention. Today, the verse was one that we have heard and one that a lot of us know by heart.

Romans 8: 28 says, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.”

It’s one we love to throw at people when they are going through a hard time. But it’s often used as a band-aid instead of actual wisdom. The person on the receiving end is left wondering, “Okay, but do we really know that? Because as it stands right now, there is absolutely no good coming from this.”

I’ve recently been dealing with this very line of thinking. Back in the spring, I met someone and I really thought it was going to work. I saw so many answered prayers in him and the way that he pursued me. So, when we mutually decided to end it three weeks ago due to distance and terribly conflicting schedules, I was left feeling pretty angry. So angry, in fact, that I almost ruined my own experience of getting to celebrate the wedding of two very dear friends whom I love deeply two weeks later.

“Lord, this is cruel. How come it couldn’t have ended after the wedding?”

“I really thought this was going to be me soon, Lord. Instead, I’m standing here crying during Love Story by Taylor Swift. How absolutely ridiculous.”

“Jesus, I don‘t understand. How can this possibly work out for my good?”

“Abba, I am so sad and I hurt so badly. Please. Please be near me.”

This is just a snippet of the chaos in my head and heart that night. Satan was working double-time on me. It took a few days to really recover from it. I am so grateful for my friends who see me so clearly and parents who talk me through tough moments without hesitation. But, when this verse appeared today, I was reminded of that evening – and where I’m at with it today.

These questions don’t feel so loud, but they still hit the raw spot in my heart with pinprick accuracy. They still make me tear up (though there is absolutely no Taylor Swift playing in the background). I feel the ache of disappointment in my chest. But instead of feeling alone, I can feel the Lord lean in close and whisper this verse in my ear – along with so many others.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life,” Psalm 4:23, emphasis mine.

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus, “ Philippians 4:19, emphasis mine.

“And every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:5, emphasis mine.

“For I know the plans I have for you – this is the Lord’s declaration – plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope,” Jeremiah 29:11, emphasis mine.

He’s been reminding me every day that He does indeed have my good in mind. While this doesn’t take away the heartache and disappointment, it does ease them. It is easier to face the hard things and the unknown future when I hold the hand of the One who has already taken care of it all.

I don’t know what hard thing you’re staring into the face of. But I know that the questions come and you feel lost in them. I know the feeling of apparent hopelessness in a situation. I am familiar with the tears that run because you simply don’t have any other way to express the way you feel.

Friend, hold His hand and allow Him to whisper the truth to you. Draw close and listen carefully, for there is no better way to hear Him.