Romans 8:28

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

There is a song called, "Life is Hard, But God is Good". This concept is sometimes hard to accept, because we want so much reach that elusive destination where we can say that "life is good". The problem with that goal is that life is inherently hard much of the time, and when we buy into the naive concept that it is not or that it doesn't have to be, our philosophy can become, "life is good, but God is hard".

To avoid this trap we must learn to believe in Romans 8:28. This verse promises that all things work together for good when we love God. This isn't some weak "glass half full" outlook on life, where we believe that God can bring something positive out even the most horrific scenarios. Even that can be hard to buy sometimes, but the truth laid out in Romans 8:28 is much more difficult to believe and at the same time more powerful and life changing. Romans 8:28 is a promise that all things will bring about good, which would mean there is not anything or portion of anything that will not bring about good.

You might ask, how is that possible when we see some of the evil that goes on in the world and the harm that results? I would answer that when we take a thorough look at our God, it is impossible for anything, no matter how awful, to be anything other than good for a person who loves God. If we believe Romans 8:28 to be untrue or partially true , we must also accept one or more of the following as true:

1) God sometimes wants things or some aspects of things to work to the detriment of people who love Him;
2) God sometimes misjudges the people who love Him; i.e. He thought something would be good for us, but we weren't as strong as He thought so it devastated us; or
3) God wants to make all things work for the good of people who love Him, but He can't always because evil can work in ways that block Him from doing it.

There may be more, but I hope it is obvious that these and any others you could come up with are unreasonable.

You might also ask, "What about people who don't love God, how do they get excluded?" The problem for these poor souls is that they will not accept the most of the good things and none of the best things that God provides. A believer may trade an awful tragedy for a hundred-fold blessing that they may not even see until they depart this world, but an unbeliever who will not accept the good that God would give him as a result of that tragedy is left with only the pain and suffering.