All Things Together For Good

 I finally finished reading "Grace is Greater" by Kyle Idleman.  I've read it slowly, truly savoring each chapter.  I identified so strongly with a part of the last chapter, and I just wanted to share/blog about it.

"My guess is that this is exactly what happens for many of you.  You go through something incredibly difficult, and in the midst of it you discover Jesus in a way that you have never known him before.  What you thought was the worst thing that ever happened to you ended up being the best thing that ever happened to you because it brought you closer to Jesus.  That's the difference grace makes.  It doesn't always take away our pain but it does something better- it redeems it.  In our pain, we discover the presence of Jesus in a way that we never would have otherwise."

A lot of weeping and praise when I read that passage.  This is truly my story.  I've heard Romans 8:28 my whole life. "And we know that God works all things together for good for them who love God and are called according to His purpose."  Growing up, I never quite grasped that verse.  How can He work ALL THINGS together for good?  I really couldn't understand how this could be true.  It was only in the last couple of years that this verse sank in my heart so deep.  He DOES work all things together for good.  Our definition of good is not necessarily His definition of good.

I have been through some very difficult things over the last few years, and I can tell you with great assurance that God has brought good out of it.  He brought me to Himself!  And what a friend I have in Jesus!!  I have learned that I can utterly rely on Him.  I have come to know that He is a strength when I have no strength.  That He hears my prayers, and that He really, really cares!  I have felt His love for me.  I have known Him to work on my behalf.  I know that I can trust Him.  He gives me peace that is only supernatural and doesn't make sense in human understanding.  I am far from perfect, but He is producing the character of Christ in me.

It has come with a cost.  Working thru a lot of fear and pain.  I can't say that I would ever choose to go thru some of these things again.  But at the same time, I can give gratitude for them because I may not have known Jesus in the way that I do had it not been for these things.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come? 

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

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