And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose

Romans 8:28

I thought of another perspective that helps to quiet the clamoring voices of difficult circumstances when we try to practice gratitude. Romans 8:28 is used as a promise for difficult circumstances. Even though they seem like they are bad, God is going to have them work out for good. We are to take comfort in this promise, and this is supposed to help us with gratitude in the midst of trials.

However, this verse may not quiet the voices of especially difficult circumstances because we are not able to imagine how they could possibly turn out for our good. Consider some devastating tragedies that you may have experienced (hopefully not) or have heard about. We all know that these exist in this world. The idea that these tragedies will turn out for our welfare is more likely to belittle or mock the pain and suffering that they are inflicting than it is to bring comfort. The only way for the balance scale to go from bad to good would be to view the pain and suffering lightly, therefore having less weight. Some circumstances are simply not going to allow for that, so this verse feels like an empty promise.

But this is if we understand that all things work together for good is about our welfare. We might read it this way because we are always primarily concerned with our own welfare. But the verse goes on to say “according to his [God] purposes”. The good is about what God is accomplishing in the world, not necessarily our good. That is what we signed up for when we became disciples, to lay down our lives for God and His purposes. Jesus was very clear that discipleship was not a path to self fulfillment with His teachings on discipleship and the cross (see especially Luke 14:25-33).

So, we do not need to view our difficult circumstances as somehow working out for our good. We need only imagine that they are somehow working out to serve God’s purpose in the world. This does not require any belittling of our suffering but rather reminds us that we have a Saviour who is well acquainted with suffering, and suffering that served God’s good purposes. And we do not need to see or understand these purposes because these are ways of God and are likely to be mysterious to us.

The enemy can use difficult circumstances to tell us that God is not generous because He is withholding the help that we need. But we can believe that God has a purpose in our suffering that may remain a mystery to us this side of heaven, but is ultimately good. This not a denial of the pain and suffering of tragic circumstances. It is an acknowledgement that God may well have good purposes that we cannot see, and a choice to trust in that truth. Considering that God’s ways are not our ways (Is 55:8-9), this is a reasonable truth to trust in. Particularly when we remind ourselves that the tragic suffering and death of Jesus was accomplishing a good purpose that nobody was able to see or understand at the time.

I would love to connect with you about these posts if they have stirred any thoughts or questions. Take a minute, shoot me an email at bo@leavenedlives.org, and let’s see where that takes us.