Does God Really Work Painful Things for MY Good?
Life is filled with painful and trying times. Not one of us is immune to suffering.
I have learned to trust that God is working in the midst of trauma, tragedy and heartbreak. And yet when I stood before God, reading Romans 8:28, I thought, there has to be a mistake here. God works all things together for my good?
That couldn’t be.
Sure, my goal was to serve God and to trust Him in my pain. But I thought I had become okay with the fact that my pain led to His good and not my own.
And so I found myself changing the words in the familiar song, Your Love Never Fails. God works all things together for His good and His good alone. I was convinced.
But as I grew deeper in my faith and began to grow in my understanding of God’s love, I saw it differently.
God doesn’t just want His good accomplished, but He wants to work everything for our good. He cares so deeply about us that He wants to bless us.
Here are two aspects of God’s character that can assure you of this truth.
Faith in a Loving God
God loves us as His children. When we accepted Christ into our hearts, we became children of God (John 1:12). For many, that is a hard reality to face. We live in a broken world filled with broken families. Parents do not always love their children the way that God loves us and so many view God’s love in the same ways that their parents loved them.
But don’t be deceived. God loves us perfectly.
If you want a definition of Godly love, look at 1 Corinthians 13. Love isn’t about the one doing the loving, it is about the one who is loved. Selfless, forgiving, trustworthy, kind. When you truly love another, you place them entirely before yourself.
God did this when He sent His son to die for us. He loves you SO much that He gave Himself up for you. If He went through that pain and suffering for your good, it only makes sense that He would continue to work for your good.
Psalm 37: 4 says that when we delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. When we put our hope and trust in God, He wants to bless us. He wants to give us the desires of our heart.
God Sees It Differently
It is essential to remember the perspective that we have. We live in a small, finite piece of time and we naturally look at our lives from that view. When we suffer, we see it as bad. When we experience pain and loss, we wonder what went wrong.
And yet, God sees these things from an entirely different perspective. God sees beauty in the pain. He knows that many times, the pain and suffering bring about freedom.
Many times, God uses pain and suffering to purify us. The chains of our past are sometimes so deeply buried and through the refining process, God brings them to the surface and frees us from them. This is by no means an easy process and many times we look at the pain and see God as unloving.
But nothing could be farther from the truth. God loves us so much that He wants to bring us to a place of complete freedom. He sees the outcome of a freed soul and wants to bring us there. He uses our suffering for our good.
[bctt tweet="God loves us so much that He wants to bring us to a place of complete freedom."]
Through painful times, we can lean on God and seek to grow closer to Him. When we do this, we see the chains that need broken and the brokenness that needs mended.
God is here for you. He sees every tear and every pain and He wants to deliver you.
Finding Assurance
In order to truly find assurance of this truth, we must seek to truly know God’s character. So how do we do this? Follow these two steps to find the assurance you need to find hope and healing.
Step 1: Read Scripture
Reading scripture is essential in understanding God’s love for us. Many times we consider ourselves too busy to study scripture. I’m not talking about sitting down and reading a short passage or an encouraging verse every now and then, but I’m referring to actually studying scripture. Studying how God worked from the beginning to the end.
When you begin to devote time to studying scripture, you will begin to feel a change in your heart. Not only will you know in your mind who God is, but you will begin to feel confident of His character.
He loves you and wants to show you that. Find a Bible study or use a study Bible and dig into the scriptures. I highly recommend The Bible Project on Youtube. Their videos are an invaluable guide to studying and understanding God in the Bible.
Step 2: Seek Encouragement
Talk to others in your church. Find a godly mentor. Surround yourself with those who will push you towards the truth. When you are surrounded by loving and committed followers of Christ, you will begin to find that God’s character can be revealed in His children.
Don’t lose sight of God’s character in trying times. Remember that even when you cannot see the good, God does. He works all things for your good if only you seek to love Him with all your heart.
What other aspects of God’s character can assure you that He is working for your good? Comment below 🙂
Photo Credit: freeimages.com/photographer/morrmota-49752
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Nicole, I have seen God work many painful things for my good. It is hard to see inside the storm, but eventually the truth wins out. That’s why I journal, so I can recount how God has worked good even when I didn’t recognize it at first. Very good topic for a post!
I love to look back through journals and see how God was working. As He works for our good, we can grow in confidence that during the storm He is working. Thanks, Sarah!
I always wish I could things the way God does. I only see what is around me, but He sees everything. It is definitely a comfort that He knows my pain and wants to work everything out!
Definitely, Sarah! We have to trust that just like a parent sees dangers that a child doesn’t understand, God is looking out for us. Thank you for sharing 🙂
A fantastic reminder. It can be SO difficult to keep the faith these days. So many horrors in the world. I love this way of looking at it.
You’re so right, Becca. It can be so difficult, but God wants us to lean onto Him during those hard times! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I am so grateful for our faithful and all-knowing God. His Omniscience is the way to walk safely and assuredly through whatever we are going through. His Omniscience also allows me to feel His Presence in the lives of those I love and do not know Him. He knows who they are and their hearts. Thank you for encouraging me today, Nicole.
Thank you, Linda! I’m so glad you found some encouragement here 🙂
I think the place I’m struggling the most right now is seeing the good in the pain so many others are experiencing. And then two words cross my mind and fill my heart with peace . . . “But God. . .” Thanks for this loving and most excellent post!
Great way to look at it, Joy. Thank you for stopping by!
I loved how you said “God see it (our pain) differently” That was so huge for me. When I am at my worst, God sees the FULL picture and the End game – life with Him in eternity. I know He suffers when I suffer but He also knows it will all work out for good and that makes all the difference.
Definitely, Sarah! It can be so hard in the middle of our pain, but I’m glad we have an unchanging and fully loving God to rely on!