By: Nina Bueno
What does that wonderful word mean—good? It’s the word that you will often hear when asking someone how they are. “Oh, I’m good,” they’ll say. But what do they actually mean? Often, it’s simply a cover-up for how they’re actually feeling. Or, “good” can describe the way we want our life to be. But sometimes, we realize that there’s nothing we can do to achieve a “good” life.
It’s all too easy to look back on some past time in life as “good” and compare it to where we are now. It’s too easy to look forward to some point in the future where things will finally be “good” again. This is especially true if you’re going through a trial. It may seem like despite all the struggles you may have endured in your life before, none of them can compare to your current obstacle.
In the Bible, Jesus foresees these struggles for us. In John 16:33, He says, “In this world you will have trouble.” He doesn’t say you might have troubles. He doesn’t say that if you do this, or if you do that you will have troubles. He says that we will have troubles. It’s a promise. And I’m sure all of us can see evidence of this promise in our lives.
But Jesus does not leave us there. As the verse continues, He states, “But take heart! I have overcome the world!” Jesus tells us that despite the promise of troubles in this world and the promise that it won’t always be good, we should still take heart! We should still have hope and be happy! But why? You might be wondering just like me, why in the world should we have hope when not only are we amid trouble in this world, but we are promised further troubles to look forward to. When will the good be here?
Jesus doesn’t just ask us to take heart for no reason. He doesn’t ask us to have hope for no reason. He asks us to have hope because of an alternate reality that isn’t always clear when we are in the midst of trouble. This reality is that Jesus has overcome the world. This isn’t even a future promise; it is a present reality! Jesus already overcame all the trouble in this world for us. He asks us to have hope because He has already cleared away the troubles and is bringing good for us.
In Romans 8:28, Paul writes, “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” All things? Good? It doesn’t look like that right now, you may think. Things were good, sure. And I hope desperately that they will be good, someday, somehow. But there is no real evidence that they’re going to be good. Nothing seems like it will ever work out that way. But Jesus asks me to take heart, to have hope, to know that God will work for good. How?
This is what I was wondering when I heard this verse recently. I just couldn’t see any way that God could work for good in the things I’m going through. But after studying, I realized something. Perhaps “good” isn’t just a word to describe how we wish things were, how we wish we felt. Perhaps it isn’t just a description of our circumstances or situations. What if it’s also a description of the character of God and of the character He desires to give us?
In the book of Romans, Paul’s use of the Greek word for “good” reveals just that. He doesn’t see “good” as something we will always experience. Of course, God can do that—He doesn’t desire us to live in sadness and trouble all the time, but when we do have troubles, as we surely will during life on this sinful earth, we may know that God is working for our good.
He is working in order to bring edification and sanctification to our lives. In and during all the things, all the troubles that happen in our lives, God will work towards our good. God will work to bring greater good into our characters and mold them more closely into His character.
The reason that Jesus overcame the troubles of this world is so that He could draw us each closer to Him. That’s why we can take heart. That’s why I can take heart. Because God’s purpose is that not one person should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And that includes you and me. In this world, we will have troubles. But God works even in those troubles for the good of our characters. He desires that we may grow to be more like Him, that we may be edified and sanctified through our lives here. And someday in heaven, we shall be glorified, and both we and our circumstances will finally be wholly good again.
