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PROMISE 8: I will work all things for good.

I don’t know your situation, but I know God is with you in it, no matter what you’re going through. He is there even when you can’t see him or hear him. When you are hurting and lost and struggling in the pain, you can cling to this beautiful promise of God: I will work all things for good.

This promise is both tremendous encouragement and nail-biting frustration. Life is filled with people who lack faith but are winning and people who have faith but appear to be losing. If God works for the good, why is there so much pain? The promise is loaded with both mystery and comfort. But we see God’s control everywhere in the Bible. Jesus said not even a sparrow falls to the ground outside of God’s knowledge. 

Perhaps the greatest person in the Bible to show how God works all things for good is Joseph, whose story begins in Genesis 37. It proves that even the most vicious and violent acts that humans do can be redeemed by God. All the anguish in Joseph’s story—a father who lost a son and thinks he’s dead for two decades, a family eaten away by guilt, a future ripped away due to petty selfishness and immaturity, the dehumanization of slavery, the inability to speak up for oneself when falsely accused, the despair of prison—all of it and more is ultimately overseen by God. God sends you through the fire to get you to the fulfillment. After all he’s been through, Joseph sees God’s purpose in it as the great weaver of dreams. He says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good” (Gen. 50:20). 

God weaves the evil done to us into good done for us, by us, and with us. He can weave your divorce into healing for someone else going through a relational disaster. He can weave your bankruptcy into financial counseling for others. He can weave your loneliness into compassion and engagement with others who are forgotten. He can weave your doubts into answers for those whose faith is weak. He can weave your tragedies, your dark days, your detours into healing for your own heart and many others. 

Take courage. Your story is still being written. The last chapter has not been penned and it’s not too late. Trust the God who works all things for good for those who love him and have been called according to his purpose.

Live free in the promise: I will work all things for good.