He is Good Through it All
I’ve struggled with writing lately. Vulnerability is a hard trait to maintain. It can be so easy at times, but then insecurity comes in and life really hits. You may feel like you’ll be judged or misunderstood for sharing a little piece of your own story, but ya know, God has taught me a lot about who He is in some of my hardest times and I feel ready to share a little bit of what He’s shown me.
Most of anyone who really knows me knows that life’s just been tough lately. It’s been a very confusing and painful time for my family. I know and believe that God works all things together for good, but I also know that we have no guarantee of when we can see the good that comes from our pain. Sometimes it just feels like too much. It may feel like you can’t handle it, you can’t move forward, or you can’t even move for that matter. But with Him? Nothing is too much to handle. 1 John 4:4 is the truth I hold onto to remind myself He is greater than my circumstances.
“…for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world”
God gives you the strength to continue through the pain. He gives you just enough to help you move forward. I think in today’s day and age it is so easy to get frustrated with the fact that we don’t have an instant response or result when it comes to real life. We’ve gotten much too used to having everything we want right at our fingertips and we get mad when we realize God doesn’t work that way. We get mad when we realize that God is not going to jump when we say jump or move when we say move. We get mad when we’re going through a difficult time and we think that if He’s such a good God then why isn’t He stepping in? Why isn’t He fixing it already? I think when we ask these questions we’re failing to remember and believe some crucial Truth’s.
God’s goodness is not defined by our circumstances.
The biggest Truth that I hold onto to anchor me in what feels like a constant storm is who we know that God is.
God never changes. Hebrews 13:8 is one of those truths of who He is. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”. If I believe this simple truth about my God, I can find peace in every situation for everything I know of Him to be true will always be true in every season and every emotion.
God is love. If we are confident that God never changes and that God is Truth and that God is Love, then we have no choice but to leave any questioning, any doubting at His feet. We can know that He is not doing anything to us to hurt us. He is not getting joy from our pain. He loves us and He has a plan that we can rest in.
God listens. I don’t think it’s a surprise when we tell God how we’re doing and I think we need to. I don’t believe that God expects us to understand why we’re going through what we’re going through. I don’t think that He is angry or disappointed when we tell Him that we’re scared, weak, sad, tired, and even angry. God loves us and He knows what we think, what we feel, before we do. He is a God who listens.
This life is just simply not about us.
When we realize that the purpose of this life is not about us or our happiness we have the opportunity to see the world through a much more Godly lens. We realize that somehow, someway, God is going to use our situation, our pain, our tears, for good…it makes it hurt a little bit less. The purpose of this life is to love God and tell every person you meet about Him so they can know Him, be changed by Him, and experience His love and His joy, and He will use your story, your testimony, in reaching the people around you.
I think it’s such a common attitude and most often is a subconscious attitude that we’re owed something here on this Earth. A quick remedy for this sneaky and oh so easily acquired attitude is remembering what God did for you and for me. He sent His Son to die. Now I’m not a parent just yet, but I’m a child and I can feel the fierce love my parents have for me. God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for you so that you may know Him and live in His freedom and His love. Now that is a mind-blowing example of our God’s love for us. I know that I am completely undeserving of that great gift. How can I ever feel like I am owed something when Jesus paid off my debt free and clear.
This life is just not about us. It’s not about being fair. It’s about God’s Kingdom. And knowing that He will bring good from my situation is the truth that I hold onto on the darkest of days.
We don’t know better.
When you were a child, your parents would tell you no. No, you can’t have a cupcake before dinner. No, you can’t run in the road. And in your world it just didn’t make sense that if your parents loved you as much as they said they did that they would want to keep something from you, a cupcake or a game in the road. You may not have understood why they would say no to something you want, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t love you.
God is no different. Our heavenly Father loves us exponentially more than our earthly parents ever could, which is hard for me to fathom. So why do we think that God should do what we want when we want Him to do it? Even if we feel like we know what would fix the problem in an instant, we don’t. God does. And He has a plan greater than anything we could dream up. Just because you may be an adult, doesn’t mean you know better.
I have a pretty short commute to work every morning, most mornings I spend talking to my mom and dad, but every single day either before or after work, I blast Desert Song by myself in my car, alone with my God in worship. This time, this song, and my God are the things that allow me to feel normal and allow me to feel like everything will be okay. They allow me to recognize things for what they are and they allow me to leave my fear, confusion, and pain where they so rightfully belong, at the feet of my Jesus.
It can be difficult not having the big picture, not understanding why God doesn’t just fix things in the very moment you’re in. One great thing about God is that He is God, not us. He has a plan that is greater than what we could dream up. He hears our cries, He feels our pain, and He doesn’t enjoy any of it. We must trust Him in the scariest of times, because that season will change and we will see His big picture.
I’ve learned the importance of speaking Truth in the most difficult times. When you sit in worship, when you sit and shout “All of my life, in every season, You are still God. I have a reason to sing; I have a reason to worship”, you begin to not only remember, but feel just how beautiful His love for us is, just how sovereign He is, which when you feel defeated and scared, is all you need to continue to walk in the unknown.
Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes you feel like everything won’t be okay, but ALL the time He is good and ALL the time He is with you. Resting in Him and His promises and truths is a beautiful gift through the worst times and that is what joy is. He gives you just what you need just when you need it. He’s given me the world’s most incredibly amazing husband who helps me through every emotion and every day, He’s given me the best family and truly the strongest parents. He’s given me friends who care for me and cry with me. He’s given me so much and I have so much I am grateful for…including this weird season. Which is just that, a season. A season that will pass.
He is good through it all.
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