God Meant it for Good

Have you ever felt that when life dealt you a tough blow, things were a little unfair? Whether you feel God was behind it, or it was a man-inspired struggle, tough bumps in the road are made even more so when we feel there is someone or something to blame for our misery.

If you’ve followed any of my blogs you know that back in December my family moved from our beautiful home in NE. I wrote about these changes in Coming Soon and It's okay to not be okay. This move wasn’t easy for many reasons.  Mainly though, it was because we had been settled, happy and content to spend our days in a place we’d called home for several years. But, as so often happens in life, things don’t always turn out the way you think they will.

In today’s post, though, I don’t want to focus on the why’s and how’s of what brought us to Iowa. No, I want to focus on something better—on God, on his plan and how he’s worked even the toughest bumps we’ve been through these past several months for our good.

For starters, I have an amazing job to look forward to this upcoming school year. And really it wouldn’t have been possible but for my nine-year-old daughter mentioning that I was a teacher, which led to an associate’s job, which led to my upcoming position of a special education teacher at her school.

The move was also a much-needed reset for my son who was being bullied and having some other issues at school. Had we not gotten out of that situation, he could very well still be dealing with the messiness of all of that.

My daughter is beginning to make friends and though we haven’t seen huge changes for her, I know that there are things going on behind the scenes that I’m not even aware of yet. As for my husband, he has a stable and fulfilling job at a local hospital where he too is thriving and enjoying the work before him.

So yea, we weren’t expecting this move, but I can’t say it hasn’t been good. In many ways, it’s brought a lot of unexpected blessings into our lives.

This move being worked together for our good reminds me of a great story in the Bible, the story of one of my all-time favorite characters, Joseph. I mentioned him recently in another post, Hidden Moments, but I love his story so much, I’ll focus on it again.

The story of Joseph has always been a favorite of mine. Mostly because of how he chooses to forgive his brothers even after they sold him into slavery after nearly deciding to kill him.

But years later when the brothers reenter Joseph’s story, Joseph, who is now 2nd in command in all of Egypt, chooses to forgive them saying:

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people[a] should be kept alive, as they are today.
 
 You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Romans 8:28:

And 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—even the bad and the ugly.

This past week, I traveled back to NE for a doctor’s appointment. I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad and nostalgic as we drove past our old house and some of our favorite haunts, including Runza and their world-famous fries as well as the local pool. While driving past so many of our favorite places, I got choked up a time or two.

But as I was driving back home, because, honestly, IA is feeling more and more like home, I was reminded that we serve a good God—a God who works all things together for our good. Remember that next time life knocks you down. You serve a God who can take even the most evil of circumstances and work good through them. If you believe that, you will weather any storm in life no matter how severe.