And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are call according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.  Romans 8:28-29

There are unfortunate misrepresentations of this verse. Mostly, it’s used as a glib cliché, handed out like an adult might hand out penny candy to placate a whiny child. This promise is a gem but because of its misuse, I can feel a negative impact as soon as I hear the reference.  I don’t even need to hear it recited to feel the dread.

The ‘good’ Paul describes does not mean that all will be made right and fair in my lifetime.  The ‘good’ is what the next verse addresses, that God will work all things; evil, sickness, and failure to conform me to the image of His Son.  I miss that entirely when I don’t read verse twenty-eight in its total context. .

Often, God advances His children through the path of adversity.  Look at the life of Joseph.  But when I quote this verse to someone who is experiencing hardship, I am really telling them this ~  “If you love God, He will use this ‘crushing thing’ to make you more like Jesus.”  Do I really want to say this to someone who is hurting?  My inference is that they are not like Jesus, so this misery is being used to shape them up. Few friends can quote them to me when I’m down. 

I do want to be like Jesus. More and more, that desire is changing the way I see suffering. I am less inclined to view it as an interruption and more willing to see it as a kind of mercy. It’s something God may use to shape in me the mind and feelings of Christ. Even as I weep, suffering is no longer empty. It becomes a place where something holy is being formed.

Thank You that You do not waste what wounds me. Thank You for drawing something beautiful out of what feels so ugly, if only that my own countenance begins to look more like Yours. Amen.

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