Good in the bad

By Jessica Brodie It’s easy to offer platitudes when things go well. But anyone who’s been through hardship knows it’s downright difficult to muster up even an ounce of joy when our world is falling apart.

Praise God when we get that cancer diagnosis? When our baby is stillborn? When a tornado levels our community? When our job is axed?

Often when bad things happen, our most common response is to groan and cry, to wonder why God is making us go through something so horrible—maybe even to wonder whether He is punishing us.

But my friends, that’s the challenge before us—and we are called by our Lord to step up and be obedient, to praise Him even in the worst, most devastating situations. Especially in the worst.

It’s not easy, and it’s not something we always do. But it’s the right thing to do. Scripture tells us “Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 16-18). Scripture says we must “submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you” (James 4:7).

See, God’s with us through everything, good and bad. And He’ll get us through.

Maybe if can have the insight to turn the situation around, to take the focus off ourselves, then we’ll see our situation through a different lens, like Paul did in writing to the early Christians in Philippians 1. Paul said it’s a privilege to not only believe in Christ but to suffer for Christ’s sake.

That’s the beauty here: Our suffering hurts. Yes. But our suffering can further the Gospel. Our suffering can draw others to God. There can be a good and deeper purpose to our pain.

All things can be beautiful. Even when they hurt.