July 16
If your life has felt messy lately, I want you to know that God can use all of it for his good, even if that’s hard to see in the moment.
Three Thoughts
It says "All things work together for good," not "all things are good." There's a lot of bad in the world, but God's promise to us is that even the really bad stuff can be turned into his purpose. He's the redeemer of our pain.
ROMANS 8:28
Joseph had a string of really terrible events happen to him: sold into slavery, lied about, imprisoned, forgotten. But years later he was able to say, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." When you look back at his life you see how God was moving all around him. So today let's trust that he's working in our lives too.
GENESIS 50:20
God comforts us during hard times in order for us to comfort others. So putting it bluntly: Your pain isn't pointless. The things that look like they're trying to break you will be used to help someone else that is going through a similar experience. Nothing is wasted.
2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-4
Two Quotes
Author Randy Alcorn on suffering:
"Suffering is, in the end, God's invitation to trust him."
Author Catherine Marshall on finding God:
"The search for God begins at the point of need."
Prayer
Dear God, I don't always see the good in life even though I want to. Sometimes the pain feels like there is no purpose to it and it's just there to knock me down. But I trust that you have a plan and that you're working in the background, redeeming all of it. Help me believe that nothing in my life is wasted in your hands. Amen.
Question
Spend a minute looking back at the hardest chapter of your life. Where can you now see God working? How does that change the way you see today?
P.S. We have been going back and forth on the subtitle for my next book "How to Be a Christian" but I think we finally locked it in this week! Praise God. "How to Be a Christian: A Simple Guide to Faith and Following Jesus"