The Good in All Things

God is and all is well.
~John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)   

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
~ Romans 8:28-30


Surely we believe that G_d can pull good from the ashes of our bad choices.  He provides the silver lining in the dark clouds of our lives.  We’ve seen it happen to our friends and can even see the healing effect of His hand in our own experience…


Stop for a second.


Read the passage again.


It says that G_d works all things together for “good.”  It does not say “better.”  Yeah, good is better than bad – but it is also better than just better.


Oh my.


Yeah.


It means stuff like this:  The horrible sins that David committed against Bathsheba’s body and the life of her noble husband Uriah worked for the good of the whole world.  A little study of passages like Matthew 1, show that the mother of King Solomon was none other than the married woman David had brought over from that other roof.  And, for some reason, she became part of the bloodline of the King of Kings.


Let’s bring this home.  It also means that the horrible mistakes and sins of our past are not just being salvaged, covered, repaired, cleaned-up and made better.  They are working together for cosmic, historical, corporate and individual good.  They are – in some unfathomable way – bringing about the glorification of G_d AND our good.


If we think we understand this.  We aren’t.  Period.  But this truth is a simply gargantuan source of hope for those of us tempted to be crushed by our past!


Yet, make no mistake, beloved, this is not an invitation to sin.