It's (Not) All Good

Driving to a meeting today I noticed a sticker in the window of the car ahead of me. It read, "It's All Good." Actually, it's not all good. War is not good. Theft is not good. Sickness is not good. Murder is not good... and so on. The issue is not whether it's all good, but how I am going to process those things that are not good. It was not good when Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. But he learned that in God's providence, though people mean things for evil (Joseph's suffering), God is able to work all things for good (the feeding of the nations).

Romans 8:28 says,

"We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

All things are not good, but God works in and through them for good—to fulfill his purposes of redemption.

And so even though Joseph's suffering was not good, and my suffering is not good, God is at work, orchestrating things (beyond my finite mind and understanding) for good. I can believe this because God himself, in the person of Jesus, endured the world's most evil act, the crucifixion, and worked it for the world's greatest good. If I had been there that day I would not have believed it. I would have thought that hope was lost. But then he rose.