For Good

My naughty little boy Felix gave me a blog topic this morning! Yay, for pugs. =)

Currently, my favorite scripture is Romans 8:28

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

If you didn't know already, I don't believe in free will (a whole different can of worms) so this verse is incredibly reassuring when situations seem to go wrong. I know that God is in complete control and everything happens for a greater purpose, for my good, and for His glory. I have two illustrations.

Felix, my family's dog, has only one flaw... he digs through the garbage while we're gone. We have taken extreme measures such as baby locks on the cupboard doors, and making sure things get taken out quickly. As for the garbage in my own room, I just have to make sure the door gets shut when I leave. Yesterday, we were gone all day and I knew there were some tempting smells he would have to explore so I made doubly sure that my bedroom door was shut. When I got home, the impossible was true. The door was open and garbage was everywhere. I was too lazy to pick it up til this morning, and when I finally got to it, I found something else quite impossible:  two receipts I've been looking for were laying in plain sight! I was so thrilled, I didn't even mind picking up paper-punch pieces of confetti and dirty Kleenex. God used a naughty little dog's bad habit to make my day a little easier.

The second was on a greater scale, but with less obvious benefits. I had the opportunity to be in a leadership/staff position last week and I worked with several great people, but there was one particular thing that made my week really difficult. Something was pushing my buttons all week, and I've never had my buttons pushed before. Needless to say, it was a down week. I suppressed my emotions and made the best of my situation. I left the week feeling drained, I felt like it was a just "one of those weeks". Looking back a few days later though, I see how I grew, and changed, and even accomplished my goals. God used a depressing week and made it a time to strengthen my walk with Him.

I believe all things work together for my good. (And yours too.)