It's All Good
Two weeks ago my status on Facebook was “Teresa Kimbel’s face will be oily when she’s laying dead in the coffin.” And right below my status, I asked if anyone had any suggestions for make-up that was good for oily skin. Sharon Gass said she had more trouble with oil now than when she was a teenager and recommended Mary Kay. Jillian Jackson recommended Clinique. Oh how I hate having oily skin. To fight it I’ve used every kind of soap imaginable, every kind of make-up imaginable, and masked until I’m blue in the face (no pun intended). Anyway, even though I do hate having oily skin, oily skin has its benefits. I have no wrinkles. (No, I didn’t say that to rub it into anyone’s face; it just illustrates the point I’m trying to make). :)
Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that “WE [emphasis mine] know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Do you think, as I have thought, that Paul must not have been thinking about me when he wrote that statement because I don’t really agree with it…completely? I used to think that my life was made up of good things happening in the good category and bad things happening in the bad category, seeing no real connection between the two. But, now I don’t see it that way anymore.
Last week Sharon Gass, the lady who recommended Mary Kay to me, wrote this status update: “Sharon Boyd Gass is so thankful. I just talked to a surgeon that discovered Brittany’s (her daughter’s) type of colon disease. He does not think right now that they will have to pull her colon out. What a blessing…” You see, Sharon’s daughter, Brittany was just recently diagnosed with polyposis which is a colon disease that sometimes requires complete removal of the colon. What Sharon had just realized was not just that Brittany’s colon could be saved, but that the doctor who discovered the two genes that cause polyposis, lives in the same state as she does. Sharon, who could not understand why God had moved her there (to Iowa), was now glorifying God because He had. My comment to Sharon’s updated status was, “Faith is believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse. Now you know….” Her response to me was “Yes, you are so right. Amy [Hughes] kept telling me God had a plan for me being here. I kept thinking it was just to torture me. lol But…this could not have worked out any better. Brittany actually stands a chance at a normal life now…Thanking God…Continuously for this blessing.” In the book of Genesis Joseph, who was thrown into a pit and sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, saves the lives of those same jealous brothers after they had set into motion a chain of events that being thrown into the pit caused. And John tells us that the blind man in John 8 was born blind “so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Sharon had learned a valuable lesson that Joseph, the man who was born blind and I myself learned, after living in the pit of depression for ten years. What you think is your burden becomes your blessing. What I thought was the WORST thing that had ever happened to me, was the BEST thing that had ever happened to me.
Does that mean that death, dying, sickness, pain, hunger, loss, separation, unemployment, bankruptcy, cancer, divorce, and any other problem you could name, is good? No. I’m not saying that it feels good; I’m saying that it’s the very area in your life right now that God is teaching you about Himself and perfecting you. And that is good; it may be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.
When I started realizing that in EVERY situation God was right there making it good, then I started thanking God for every situation, bad or good. First Thessalonians 5:16-18 says “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Does this only mean that it’s God’s will for you to be joyful, pray and give thanks or does it also mean that the circumstances are also God’s will for you? I believe it means they are God’s will for you. When I started giving God the glory for the bad situations I started realizing there was nothing bad going on in my life at all--that God was right there in the middle of it--and that the part that burdened me the most, was my greatest blessing.
What do I recommend if you are burdened by a bad situation? Start praying this prayer: “Thank you God for this situation.” “Thank you God for this situation.” If God is leaving a burden in your life, then He’s leaving it for His glory and your benefit. You may not see the good in it at all, but you better believe God does. He is refining you in the fiery furnace of affliction and you are exactly where He wants you to be, at the exact time. You may be like Joseph whose blessing started in the pit or like the man born blind from birth. I pray that what Jesus said to the man born blind from birth may also be said of you--that this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in your life. And that will always be good.
Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that “WE [emphasis mine] know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Do you think, as I have thought, that Paul must not have been thinking about me when he wrote that statement because I don’t really agree with it…completely? I used to think that my life was made up of good things happening in the good category and bad things happening in the bad category, seeing no real connection between the two. But, now I don’t see it that way anymore.
Last week Sharon Gass, the lady who recommended Mary Kay to me, wrote this status update: “Sharon Boyd Gass is so thankful. I just talked to a surgeon that discovered Brittany’s (her daughter’s) type of colon disease. He does not think right now that they will have to pull her colon out. What a blessing…” You see, Sharon’s daughter, Brittany was just recently diagnosed with polyposis which is a colon disease that sometimes requires complete removal of the colon. What Sharon had just realized was not just that Brittany’s colon could be saved, but that the doctor who discovered the two genes that cause polyposis, lives in the same state as she does. Sharon, who could not understand why God had moved her there (to Iowa), was now glorifying God because He had. My comment to Sharon’s updated status was, “Faith is believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse. Now you know….” Her response to me was “Yes, you are so right. Amy [Hughes] kept telling me God had a plan for me being here. I kept thinking it was just to torture me. lol But…this could not have worked out any better. Brittany actually stands a chance at a normal life now…Thanking God…Continuously for this blessing.” In the book of Genesis Joseph, who was thrown into a pit and sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, saves the lives of those same jealous brothers after they had set into motion a chain of events that being thrown into the pit caused. And John tells us that the blind man in John 8 was born blind “so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Sharon had learned a valuable lesson that Joseph, the man who was born blind and I myself learned, after living in the pit of depression for ten years. What you think is your burden becomes your blessing. What I thought was the WORST thing that had ever happened to me, was the BEST thing that had ever happened to me.
Does that mean that death, dying, sickness, pain, hunger, loss, separation, unemployment, bankruptcy, cancer, divorce, and any other problem you could name, is good? No. I’m not saying that it feels good; I’m saying that it’s the very area in your life right now that God is teaching you about Himself and perfecting you. And that is good; it may be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.
When I started realizing that in EVERY situation God was right there making it good, then I started thanking God for every situation, bad or good. First Thessalonians 5:16-18 says “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Does this only mean that it’s God’s will for you to be joyful, pray and give thanks or does it also mean that the circumstances are also God’s will for you? I believe it means they are God’s will for you. When I started giving God the glory for the bad situations I started realizing there was nothing bad going on in my life at all--that God was right there in the middle of it--and that the part that burdened me the most, was my greatest blessing.
What do I recommend if you are burdened by a bad situation? Start praying this prayer: “Thank you God for this situation.” “Thank you God for this situation.” If God is leaving a burden in your life, then He’s leaving it for His glory and your benefit. You may not see the good in it at all, but you better believe God does. He is refining you in the fiery furnace of affliction and you are exactly where He wants you to be, at the exact time. You may be like Joseph whose blessing started in the pit or like the man born blind from birth. I pray that what Jesus said to the man born blind from birth may also be said of you--that this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in your life. And that will always be good.
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