For Our Good

By Alagbe Shenayon 

Let's be crystal clear: God works everything in believers' lives for their "good." This doesn't mean that everything results in pleasant lifestyles, joyful futures, happiness, and long-lasting peace.

The "good" here, though not specifically defined for our understanding, should be understood as a spiritual and eternal good.

Here's the gist: God uses everything in the life of a believer (not just someone who calls themselves a believer, but one who truly believes in God) and often the difficulties they face to remake and transform them into the likeness of His son, Jesus, our Savior. Everything that happens to us as believers—the difficulty, the grief, the ease, the joy, the gain, the pain—has one purpose: to make us more like Jesus, which is for our good.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35-39

This scripture helps us see that nothing we go through shall separate us from the love of God, not even "sapa" (lack of money) or "breakfast" (heartbreak). We know everything works for our good.

Also, do you know that sometimes what a believer goes through becomes a story and a source of help for those who will face similar challenges in the near future? Consider Joseph, who rose from slavery to the throne; Esther, who transformed from a slave to a queen; Gideon, who went from hiding to becoming a great warrior; and David. Their journeys demonstrate how God can turn difficult circumstances into remarkable testimonies and sources of inspiration for others.

So, complain less, murmur less, and be still. Know that everything you are going through, God is working something for your good.

Do you know why? "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:18

So there reader, rejoice because soon, the tears is going to be a source of soon.