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. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. – Romans 8:28-30
Even in the worst of times – God is working.
In spite of horrible situations – God is working.
Even though that person at work is hard to get along with – God is working.
Finances are tight…seemingly impossible – God is working.
Ministry is not clicking like it once was – God is working.
Church is “in decline” – God is working?
The election didn’t go your way (which can seem like God’s way to us) – God is working.
The bill didn’t get paid – God is working.
The illness didn’t go away – God is working.
Remember, the working of God is not contingent on how things feel or if the world seems to be working overtime to knock you down. God is working and no one can stop the work He decides to engage himself in. So we trust His way is best in His good time and have hope because, “God is working!”
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And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
1 Peter 5:10 NIV
It won’t last forever and will be worth it all in the end
Yes it is true that all things work together by God for good, but sometimes it takes years to realize just how it did.
But let’s not criticize those who are going through rough times. Let’s not tell depressed people that they just need to have more faith. Let’s not disregard those in mourning by saying that the person has gone to be with Jesus, because, though it may be the case, some of the mourners may be wondering from whom their next meal will come. People (or their blood) have been crying out to God since the time of Abel. The enslaved Hebrews cried out to God long and loud enough that he called Moses and sent him to Egypt to lead the people out. Lamentations is a collection of poems lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem.
Let’s not prohibit crying out to God in the mean time.
No need for a “but…” how about an “and”? We can both realize that God is faithful AND realize that things are not always rosy.
Mark, I appreciate your honest cry of reality. Christians are not always trusted when it comes to tragedy, suffering and depression. We are looked upon as those who hand out band aids with Bible verses written on them.
Total trust in God in the beginning of a trial does not come easy for me. I came from a long line of “good faithful members of the church” worriers; we made worry into an art form. And no, worry itself does not supernaturally disappear by scriptural affirmations. Faith for me is the conscious reminder that “From God, through God and to God, are all things”, while accepting myself as one who does not easily embrace and expect the ending to be a Kumbaya moment. All I know is that the moment will belong to God. And for that I, in spite of myself, make every prayer a deliberate “Thank You!”