“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…” — James 1:17
A song came to mind this week that asks a series of thought-provoking questions.
What if the things we call hardships are sometimes the very means by which God accomplishes His greatest work in our lives?
It isn’t asking whether pain is enjoyable.
It isn’t suggesting that loss somehow becomes pleasant.
Instead, it challenges us to consider a difficult possibility:
What if some of God’s greatest blessings arrive in packages we would never choose to open?
That thought immediately took me back through Scripture.
Joseph certainly wouldn’t have chosen betrayal by his brothers.
He wouldn’t have chosen slavery.
He wouldn’t have chosen prison.
Yet years later, he could look back and see that God had been working through every painful chapter.
David probably wouldn’t have chosen years of hiding in caves while running for his life.
Moses likely wouldn’t have volunteered for forty years in the wilderness.
Naomi certainly wouldn’t have chosen famine, widowhood, and the loss of her sons.
None of those experiences felt like blessings when they were happening.
Yet every one of them became part of God’s greater purpose.
I wonder how many blessings I’ve almost missed because I was looking for the wrong wrapping paper.
We naturally think blessings look like answered prayers.
Open doors.
Good health.
Financial provision.
Restored relationships.
There is no question those things can be tremendous gifts from God.
But sometimes His greatest gifts are quieter.
A disappointment that redirected our lives.
A closed door that protected us from walking somewhere we shouldn’t.
A season of waiting that taught us patience.
A trial that stripped away our self-reliance and taught us complete dependence upon Him.
None of us pray for those things.
Yet many of us would honestly say they became turning points in our walk with Christ.
I’ve noticed something else.
We usually recognize those blessings only by looking backward.
Very few people say in the middle of suffering,
“I can already see why God allowed this.”
Perspective often comes long after the pain.
Perhaps that’s why faith is so essential.
Faith trusts that God is good before we can understand what He is doing.
Only later do we begin to see how He was weaving together circumstances we never could have imagined.
Romans 8:28 isn’t a promise that everything is good.
It’s a promise that God is working through everything for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
That doesn’t minimize grief.
It doesn’t erase loss.
It doesn’t pretend suffering isn’t real.
It simply reminds us that God never wastes any of it.
One day, I believe we’ll look back and discover that some of the moments we would have erased from our story became the very chapters God used to shape us most into the image of Christ.
Final Word
We spend much of our lives asking God to change our circumstances.
Sometimes He does.
But often, His greater miracle is using those circumstances to change us.
Perhaps the greatest blessings aren’t always the ones that make life easier.
Perhaps they’re the ones that make us more like Jesus.
Leave a comment