February 22, 2021

Good From This?

 Devotion for the Week...

Here in Newfoundland we are a little more than a week into a second lockdown. When it was announced, it was scheduled to last two weeks, but I have a suspicion it will be extended. I would be happy to be wrong about that, but I don't think I will be 😊 When I shared about the lockdown on Instagram, Kata commented to say, "Hate to say it, but a lockdown, properly done, works." She's absolutely right, of course. If we're going to stop the spread of the virus, we have to stop moving around and interacting with so many people. A lockdown is the most efficient way to make that happen.

Unfortunately, that doesn't change the fact that a lockdown is brutally hard on businesses, on students and teachers who have to pivot to online learning, on people living in longterm care facilities and on people for whom home is not a safe place. All we can do is hope that people obey the lockdown rules, that the surge in cases can be dealt with and that we can then return to the pandemic version of 'normal' we have been in for the past while.

Kata's comment really stuck in my mind and as I mulled it over, I thought of Romans 8:28: "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." That is such a good verse, but such a hard one at the same time. 

Some people misinterpret the verse as saying that everything will always be good if you're a believer. That's not what it says at all! God never promised that we would avoid all sadness and all hardship. In fact, Jesus specifically said "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows" (John 16:33).

Romans 8:28 actually means that God will use even the bad parts of our lives to create good for us. This is a beautiful promise! However, I've also found it to be hard to really grasp it because there are so many times we can't see how God could possibly make anything good come from bad situations. How does good come from chronic illness? How does good come from losing a child? How does good come from domestic abuse? Or substance abuse? I have no answers for any of those situations and so many more.

But it's not me (or you) who has promised to make good come from these things. Thankfully, God is not limited by our understanding or our perspective. Ephesians 3:20 says, "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." He can do infinitely more than we might ask or think. That's reassuring, isn't it? The fact that I can't see how good can come of a hard situation, doesn't mean that God can't.

God has promised to bring good from the hard things we face | DevotedQuilter.com

We will deal with hard things. That's just a fact of life. But when those hard things come, we can cling to God's promise that He will somehow bring good from them.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for these very encouraging thoughts. This past year has been difficult but there have also been blessings.

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  2. Thank for sharing this. At our Church we are studying Exodus in a series of sermons. The over-riding theme is 'knowing God'. Here is a link to last Sunday's sermon titled 'The God We Doubt' which really links in well with the theme of your devotion: http://www.stmarys-basingstoke.org.uk/churchbuilder/medialib.php?id=3442

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  3. I'm sorry to hear about your lockdown, but, as you pointed out, not interacting with others is beneficial for everyone. Of course, that's not what we're doing here in the US, so it really isn't fair for me to weigh-in on this. I just hope you endure the quarantine with positivity... which I know can be difficult to come by. Your Bible lesson, as always, is spot on. Bless you for continuing to share the good that comes from having a relationship with Our Lord.

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  4. Good Morning Leanne, I enjoy reading your devotions and have been sharing them with our Quilting group Mosaic Quilters over the past few months. Usually pick the ones that have something to do with quilting. Unfortunately due to out lockdown we are unable to meet together right now, let's home we get this under control and get back to where we were before this latest surge in numbers. Praying for those who have the virus, hoping for a full recovery.

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  5. Your devotion is spot on. Thank you!

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