“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28): My brothers, “you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen.50:20).
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of new mercies today—for we surely need your mercy for ourselves, and for loving others well. For life is all about relationships, as is underscored by the two well-known verses we’re praying through today. No relationship matters more than the grace-saturated relationship you have established with us through the Gospel. Hallelujah, and thank you. Secondly, then there’s every other relationship we have—the ones we adore, and the ones we endure. Hallelujah, and help us!
Pondering these two verses afresh, here are two questions, Abba, I realize we need to be asking all the time—at least a few times a week:
- What is the “good” you are bringing—or will bring from our most challenging circumstances and difficult relationships?
If we don’t ask this question, we’ll surely drift into seasons—even years of anger, blaming, medicating our pain, running to escape, micro-managing people … and a more and more distant relationship with you. And there’s a 2nd question connected to the 1st.
- What does loving and trusting you look like when, like Joseph, we have to wait many years—or even for life in heaven, to see how your hand and heart were always at work for good in things we experience in life—stories of intentional harm, evil, loss, and contradictions to your goodness?
What we DO know, Abba, is that in view of your gift of Jesus to us and for us, we can surely trust you for everything else we need today… tomorrow… 7, 14, 21 years from now… and forever