Good

Romans 8:28 ~ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

I don't know how many times I have read, claimed, prayed, believed, and held onto this verse over the years.  However, this past weekend I realized something that I hadn't really noticed before.  The word 'good'.  Oh, yeah, I mean I noticed it before and held onto it, but this was different.  As one of the guys from my church was preaching it on Sunday, I was claiming it for some circumstances currently surrounding my life and that still, small voice whispered to my heart... "Carla, I define good, not you".  Oh my Jesus knows his girl so.very.well.  You see, I have over and over and over again claimed that verse with a predetermined mindset as to what good ought to be, how it should all work out...in other words, I was defining 'good' from my frail, finite abilities.  That's not how He defines it.  He looks over the continuum of time eternal and defines good from that vantage point.  Sometimes it is how I envision it to be, many times it is not.  Sometimes it is better, sometimes not from my human understanding.  I have been blessed so many times by the Lord to have been shown in my lifetime some of the "good" reasons that bad, heart wrenching, profoundly disappointing moments occur on this Earth.  I have also been left with many moments that I simply cannot attribute any good to the situation.

The cool thing about this time is that it comes right behind the lessons of turning over control to the One who truly is that He is leading through.  As I claimed it this time, I added a prayer of understanding that He alone gets to define good and I offer up those areas for Him to bless or sacrifice as He sees fit.  What an incredibly sweet spot to be in!

Happy Monday!