“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
Through the in’s and out’s, the upside downs’s and the right side up’s, God is always.
He’s working and refining and completing all good things for our lives.
Even in the barren seasons where it seems there is no growth, there is no light, there is no fertile ground for sowing new things.
God is always.
I am leaning into that more and more, and the truthfulness of this principle has increasingly become real and confirmed to me over the past several years. Hard times and good times are all a part of this journey on earth. And through it all, God is.
God is faithful.
God is merciful.
God is mighty and fights for us.
God is gracious.
God is forgiving.
God is love, even when it seems that the pressing feels very unloving.
God is true.
God is just.
God is…always.
Pressing and crushing, breaking and bending. We don’t need to understand. Even though understanding is what we long for. His ways of working all things for our good don’t often make sense to us. Even more challenging when those seasons seem to carry on and on…as if there is no end in sight. I’m all attentive and at the ready when I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I waiver and struggle when time seems to stand still in the middle of the dark.
God is always.
He is for our good.
He is for our future.
He is for the redemption of our past.
He is for our deliverance.
He is for us in our battle.
He is for us.
God is always, He is for us, even through the valley. Even through the unspeakable. Even in our doubt and our anger, our fear and our rebellion.
He is always and He is for us through our tears, through our questions, through our illnesses and through our grief.
And while it may bring no consolation to the one who is sitting in their dark season right now, God is always working all things for our good.
“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who he has given us.” Romans 5:2-4
Sit back for a moment and inhale deeply. Let it settle in for a moment.
Through the in’s and out’s, the upside down’s and right side up’s…God is always using all things for our good. The highs and the lows. Each life experience, each joy and each pain…he is using and forming in us the character, the fortitude, the gentleness of spirit and, by his Holy Spirit, the very image of Christ.
It may not bring you much comfort in this exact moment of your life. Your world may be upside down right now. The suggestion that God could use this for good and for glory may feel like a slap on the face. Pain makes it very difficult to see or feel hope; to even have the strength cling to hope. I know.
But I also know that even when the hours of the night seem to overshadow the day, God is always. And this suffering is producing in you something richer and sweeter and purer than all the right side up seasons you will ever have in your life.
If there is anything in this world proven to be sure, proven to be faithful, proven to outlast and exceed the far reaches of the universe and beyond the hands of time, it is this: God is always.
The night was long, and the shadows spread as far as the eye could see;
I stretched my hands to a human Christ, and He walked through the dark with me!
Out of the dimness at last we came, our feet on the dawn-warmed sod;
And I saw by the light of His wondrous eyes I walked with the Son of God.
H.W. Beecher
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