When Good Things Go Bad

Sometimes even the best things go bad. Sometimes they go there gradually, and sometimes all at once. But what are we supposed to gain out of the bad? What are we supposed to learn? In the moments that good things go badly, it's easy to quickly lose perspective, to  become bitter or hostile or mopey. But there is undoubtedly some lesson, some growth, some good that must come from bad things.

We know from Romans 8:28 that "...in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." How do we reconcile that with the fact that things will go bad sometimes? If we back up a bit in Romans 8, we find that (verse 26-27), " In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." This sounds a little bit more like bad things can and do happen. But despite the bad, God can and does still orchestrate it into something good. 

There has to be then a certain hope that we just have to cling to as things go wrong that even in the struggle, the trial, the trouble, that God said it would be good, so whether I see it or not, experience it in a tangible way or not, that it is indeed good. And in that hope, I am called to not only endure whatever hardship or trial that surrounds me, but I should actually count it a joy. In James, we read, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (1:2-4).

I am often drawn back to a sermon I heard once at my church. The gist of the entire sermon was that in life we will have hard times. We can be assured of that fact. But that hard things aren't always bad things. And even if they are bad things, they can indeed be good. We don't grow, develop, or learn when things are easy. It is in the hard things that our hearts are touched, lessons are learned, growth happens. So, it has to be concluded that very often hard things and good things come together. They are not mutually exclusive. 

So, it is with an attitude of gratitude and joy that I accept (or at least try very hard to accept) trials, hardships, the bad things in life because I know that there is something good that God is bringing me in order to strengthen my faith, to refine my beliefs, to grow my relationship with Him. And that is very good.