What Is Good?

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

I've been thinking a lot lately about that verse in Roman 8:28 and how I think about "good". From my human perspective good is generally moving up the ladder of success by getting a promotion or a raise, getting a bigger house or a new car, having the "perfect" spouse and children, never getting sick.

Part of what brought this on is my daughter-in-law who is going through some tough times emotionally. Which means my son and the grandchildren are going through some tough times emotionally. My son was baptized recently because he realized that although he had been baptized as a 7 year old, he was not actually saved until he was a teenager. It was important to him to do things God's way and declare publicly that Jesus Christ is his Savior and Lord. Now his faith, and that of my 12 year old grandson, is being put to the test as his wife struggles. So I am looking for good in all this.

But this is not the first time I have been looking for good in a bad situation. On November 4, 2004, at the age of 87, my mama had a stroke. All her adult life she said she never wanted to be in a nursing home but when the stroke happened there was really no other choice. Although she hated the nursing home she got lots of rehab that enabled her to feed herself and walk and talk again. During the first month after her stroke I asked God over and over to show me the good in this. Then on December 28, two weeks shy of his 91st birthday, my daddy passed away peacefully at home in his sleep. Now I saw the "good" in my mama's stroke.

My mama and daddy started courting when she was 14 and daddy was 17 and married 5 years later. For 73 years daddy had been the love of her life. When he died I was able to thank God that mama was not with him to find him dead in the bed. I was able to thank God that decisions about where she would live were taken out of her hands. Mama was healthy enough by then to attend daddy's funeral and understood that daddy was gone but she was protected from overwhelming grief by the effects of the stroke. So I could finally see the "good" in her having a stroke.

God was not being cruel or heartless when He allowed her brain to be damaged by the stroke. Rather He knew my daddy would die on the day they should have been celebrating as their 68th wedding anniversary and loved my mama enough to shield her from the pain and loss.

Good in God's eyes does not necessarily look like good to my eyes. But if I take the time to seek God's face and to ask Him to let me see the situation as He does, then I can always be confident of His goodness.