Looking for Good
by Vickey Banks
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, ESV).
Sometimes it is hard to find the good, isn’t it?
When I look not even at the world at large, but at just my corner, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by a wide variety of terrible, awful, no-good things in the lives of those I love—degenerating disease, infertility, failed adoptions, life-altering diagnoses, grief, premature births, debilitating pain, prodigal children, parents with dementia, abuse, sexual sin, failing marriages and more.
So how does one hold on to hope and keep looking for good when there is so much bad to see?
I can think of no other rational answer than to do what Jesus did—to trust in the One and Only God who is big enough to bring some good out of what looks to be a colossal mess. Never was His example more poignant that on that original Good Friday. For Jesus, as well as for His loved ones and followers, Good Friday had to have felt like a truly terrible, awful, no good, very bad day.
After being arrested, Jesus had been abandoned by the men he considered His closest confidantes and followers—discouraging for him, shameful and fear-inducing for them. All four gospel writers wrote of the inhumane way Jesus was treated and the prophecies fulfilled by that treatment. (For a sampling, see Psalm 22, Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23 and John 19.) Jesus was then tried and falsely accused before He was sentenced to a gruesome and very public death. Repeatedly, He was tortured, mocked, taunted and humiliated.
Although as God in the flesh He was perfectly sinless, Jesus was nailed to a cross and publicly crucified between deserving criminals. The soldiers didn’t even wait until He was dead before they started claiming His clothes. Finally, after what must have seemed like the longest of terrible, awful, no-good days, Jesus (aka God the Son) took His last breath and died.
Simply put, nothing about Good Friday looked good. Not until Sunday, that is. Come Sunday, everything looked different.
The miraculous happened on Sunday as Jesus rose from the dead, confirming His identity as God the Son! Redemption and salvation became possible for you and me. No longer would we need slaughtered animals or an earthly priest to make our relationship right with God. As our risen High Priest, Jesus would advocate for us, and through His sacrifice, we would have direct access to God the Father.
I’m sure that what God was working for good was not obvious to the onlookers on that Good Friday, just as when God is working for our good is not always obvious to us. Painfully, on this side of Heaven we sometimes don’t get to see the good promised us (Hebrews 11:13). Just because we can’t see the good God is working, doesn’t mean He isn’t working it.
Scripture says that God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 6:18). When God says He causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, it must be true.
Sometimes God works the very good we long to see—babies are born and placed in families who long to love them, people repent and return to God, marriages are mended and made more lovely. Sometimes God works good in ways we wouldn’t have asked for—loved ones are taken home to Heaven, God doesn’t remove the cancer but allows us to enjoy time and a relationship with that loved one like nothing we’d had before. And sometimes, we must wait until we get to Heaven to see or experience the good in a situation. Regardless of how God works, we must choose to believe in this good-bringing God to help us rightly hold on to hope in the midst of the seemingly terrible, awful, no-good Fridays of our lives.
No matter how this world and the circumstances of your life appear, never doubt there is a future when God will redeem what doesn’t look good. He promises it. Your Sunday is coming!
Author Bio
Bible study teacher, author, inspirational speaker and disciple-maker, Vickey is passionate about helping women connect the dots between God’s word and their everyday lives. She loves serving as Women’s Ministry Director at Council Road, writing for and overseeing the Council Road Women blog, serving as a LifeWay Women’s Trainer and as a member of the Women’s Leadership Team for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. She also enjoys teaching Young Adults with her husband, celebrating her people, relishing God's creation and getting lost in a good story.