No pain, no gain, right? But wouldn’t we all just rather have no pain? No pain at all. No suffering. No hardship. No setback. We all would choose the path of no pain, but would we be sacrificing great gain?
What has caused you pain in your life? What hardship have you endured? Maybe you’re in the middle of it right now and absolutely none of it makes sense. Sometimes we must make peace with not understanding. Sometimes we have to trust there will be a revelation on the other side of the fight, but for now, we must go through the fight.
But here’s what we know, Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
I especially love the first 3 words of that familiar verse. AND WE KNOW. This is us reminding ourselves of the truth. This is us telling our feelings to get in alignment with what we know. This is us telling our circumstances they will not overwhelm us, because we KNOW greater things. We KNOW God causes everything to work together for the good when we love him and are walking in the calling of our purpose. And if God causes EVERYthing to work together for good, that means this thing too. Yes, this thing you’re going through right now. God can even work through it.
Please know this … God doesn’t cause all things. We can’t blame God for everything because quite simply, he doesn’t cause everything. We live in a fallen world continually afflicted by the free will of humans and the attacks of an enemy against our soul. God is not to blame. But this is how great our God is … He is so great he can take even the worst mankind can do, and he can work it together for good. He can bring gain out of pain. He can bring success out of suffering. He can bring a hallelujah out of hardship. He can turn a setback into a setup.
At our Lake Tahoe Retreat last weekend, I heard the story of a beautiful, strong woman who had left an abusive marriage and became a single mother of 5 children. They lived in a hotel because they had no where else to go. Picture that for a second. One mom, 5 children, 2 beds in a single hotel room … that is home. That is hard. Looking back, she shared how it was so hard, it was so embarrassing, and it was so beautiful. Through this hardship, she sang her hallelujah. In this pain, there was much to gain. God had faithfully taken all of this bad, all of this hurt, all of this mess, and he had worked it together to bring something so good. She and her children eventually moved out of that hotel to their home. Did God design the mess? No, I don’t believe he did. God didn’t desire for her husband to become an abusive man. He didn’t design the hardship of homelessness. But he sure showed up in the middle of it to do his good work.
God was not to blame, but God was always working to bring good in it.
Today, remind yourself of what you know. YOU KNOW GOD CAUSES EVERYTHING TO WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD. You have to know it. Why? Because right now, it may not be good, but God is still going to use it to bring his goodness. You can’t blame God. You can’t give up on God. He is here, and he is working. You may not see it today, but one day you will. One day you will look back and see how God was always working behind the scenes to bring you somewhere good.
King Hezekiah says in Isaiah 38:17, “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.” What anguish had Hezekiah gone through? Sickness to the point of death. Hardship that absolutely crushed him. Pain greater than he could bare. But with a little perspective, Hezekiah was able to look back and see it was for his benefit that he had suffered. He had found gain in the pain. Purpose in the problem. His message in this mess.
Can this problem you’re going through right now be for your benefit? In the hands of God, YES IT COULD BE! This problem may not have come from the hand of God, but in his hands, it can be made good. You can be changed forever through this. You can wake up with a whole new perspective on life because you have gone through this.
Or you can wake up bitter. You can wake up angry towards God. You can wake up and see everything that is wrong. But if that is your choice, you miss every ounce of benefit. You forfeit every lesson that could have made you so much better. You forgo all the growth. You turn away from all the blessings aligned on the other side of this suffering. Don’t do that. That’s exactly what the enemy of your soul wants you to do here. He wants you to blame God. He wants you to grow bitter. He wants you to become cynical and jaded. He wants you to focus on everything that is wrong and refuse to move on until you understand it.
But God wants you to find peace here. He wants you to lean in and find healing here. He wants you to walk in the goodness he will work through this. He wants you to dwell in the gain that comes after the pain, step up in your success setup after the setback, sing your hallelujah birthed from this hardship, and spread his message that came through this mess.
God wants you to KNOW. Know that you know that you know that you know that He alone causes everything to work together for good. Yes, even this thing. Put this thing in his hands. Don’t blame his hands, remember, his hands may not have brought this into your life, but when placed into his hands, even the worst things can be worked together for good.
Just like the woman at retreat shared with me how God was with her and her 5 children living in a hotel, giving them the sweetest of times through extreme hardship, you too can see God working his goodness in your circumstances. And when you don’t see it, lean in to KNOWING it. KNOW God will do it. KNOW God has already made a way through this. KNOW God is guiding your every step, and those steps will lead to blessings you cannot imagine.
Surely it is for our benefit that we suffer such anguish. We gather great gain through this pain. No doubt, God’s love is keeping us from the pit of destruction and he has put all our sins behind his back. He will carry us through. He will make the way. He will restore us again. And he will show us how to sing our hallelujah in this hardship.
Remind your downcast soul of what you know today. You know God is for you, not against you. You know God is with you and he will never leave or forsake you. You know God’s good plans for your life have not been cancelled. You know God is working everything together for good.
While writing this devotional today, my spirit began singing this song. It is called “Love Lifting Me” by Tasha Layton. It says:
2
Sayin’ no to my downcast soul
Sayin’ no to the lies I tell myself
Sayin’ no to my downcast soul
Your love is lifting me
In my weakness
When nothing else could help
Hallelujah
Your love is lifting me
By the Spirit
That defeated death
Hallelujah
Your love is lifting me
May God’s love lift you today as you say no to your downcast soul and remember what you KNOW. You KNOW God causes everything to work together for good.
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