SEE THE GOOD IN THE BAD

I like how The Passion Translation paraphrases Romans 8:28:

"So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose."

Bad things happen. It's a given. It's not a sign that God doesn't love you, it's simply a confirmation that we kinda live in a fallen world! My mom sometimes says that being a believer doesn't mean that we are wrapped up in cotton. This is true and not true at the same time.

You see, the way I see it is that the devil comes with a plan to destroy us, and then Father God raises a standard every single time to use the situation for our good. Only, sometimes we see a visible or tangible manifestation of God's plan, while other times we don't. The reasons why we don't always see it is:

1) it comes in terms of internal growth, learning from our mistakes and growing in wisdom, which we often recognize only years later down the line

2) sometimes the manifestation of something good within a bad situation depends on our chioce to have it or not.

According to Hebrews 11:

verse 1: Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].

verse 6: But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him. (AMPLIFIED)

I write this often, but faith is a choice... and choice is an action!

My husband grew up in a home where there was constant conflict. He lost his mom as a young adult and had no close bonds with anybody else. He often felt very much alone in this world, and he might have wondered many times in his life why he had been given a family that is so very different than himself... But God had a plan, a plan to give him hope and a future...! We met 12 years ago, and the moment that he came to visit my family, he was instantly adopted as "one of us". He was so amazed at all the love that suddenly came his way and that it was possible to have strong family bonds without any conflict! This is when he gave his life to the Lord.

Then, God blessed us with a little girl that is a real Miss Sunshine. In our home webarely know any conflict at all. There is just so much love in our little household.

You see, the statement that "every dark cloud has a silver lining" is actually a total understatement of what God has in store for us! Some things will simply fall in your lap, (because He is a good daddy!) but others we have to "go get", in faith, because that's how we learn to trust Him more and more.

Often we are very happy that God blesses us unexpectedly or undeservingly (when blessings fall in our lap), but when we have to contend for something, we moan and groan!

Today my experience-based advice to you is to CHOOSE to actively trust Him, and follow the prompting of His Spirit in your heart, and I promise you that you will be astounded at the results!