All Things

All things will work together for our good. The good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, triumphs and failures, miracles and tragedies. The things we deserved and the things we didn’t deserve will work together for our good. This is not some carte blanche to act however we want and not worry about suffering any permanent consequences because all of it will work together for our good. Rather, it is the hope that no matter how badly and how often we’ve sinned and rebelled, no matter how permanent seem the consequences of some of our choices, through the Atonement of Christ even our biggest mistakes and our deepest shames can in the end work together for our good. This is also not some trite and cheerless phrase to throw in the face of those who are wallowing in the depths of misery and despair. Don’t worry, buck up. This will be good for you. When we look at the extent of death and destruction caused by natural disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis, or of human disasters like wars and genocides, when we look at the sheer blackness of evil of things like child abuse or human trafficking, when we look at the pervasiveness and bitterness of enmity between different groups of people, when we look at all of the greed and hatred and cruelty and malice around us all the time, it is easy to think that no good could possibly come of this. It is easy to believe that there can be no God, or if there is, He is either powerless to stop all the bad or else cruel and sadistic to be able to stop it but to choose not to. I don’t know how but I do know that all of these will work together for our good. My thoughts are not the Lord’s thoughts, my ways are not the Lord’s ways. I see now through a glass, darkly, and I cannot yet at present comprehend the grandeur and the majesty of God’s wisdom and grace. But one day I will be able to look back with awe and humility at the ways in which even the worst moments of my life have worked together for my good, and I will not be able to deny that God’s ways are merciful and just.