One of my greatest strengths that can easily become one of my greatest weaknesses is my ambition. I can’t help but shoot for the stars. I want the very top of the mountain all the time in every conceivable way. This can be a great driver and motivator but sometimes I get into trouble because my expectations get way too high. This is not a perfect world and sometimes I get really bent out of shape when things don’t work out the way that I want. One passage of scripture that I’ve been meditating on lately is Romans 8:28 which says…

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

The part of this passage that I find to be the most compelling is the word “everything.” God uses “everything” to work together for the good of his kids. There are a lot of terrible things that fall under the umbrella of everything. This means that all the junk in our lives falls under this heading. All the bad stuff that we’ve ever done, thought, felt and experienced falls into this category. This is not saying that all things are good but that God promises to use all things to work together for the good in the lives of his children.

Life is a lot of things but it’s definitely not perfect. There are things that I experience every single day that I wish I could delete. Perhaps part of the secret to finding peace in a broken world is taking this promise to the bank. What I’m trying to do is think about it anytime I’m experiencing something that I wish I didn’t have to experience. I’m thinking, “God, you promise to make even this work together for the good in my life.” It may not change our circumstances but it might change our perspective which could make all the difference in the world.