Even in the darkest of times, God is good. It seems cliche, doesn’t it? Yet over the last eight weeks, this has become my mantra. I have repeated it over and over again, and the words still haven’t lost their meaning.

We all suffer. It’s part of being human. Some suffer more than others, leaving us to question life’s equality. Others bear suffering as their cross, convinced that the burden doesn’t exist.

In one way or another, every single one of us is suffering. You, reading this, are suffering. Right now. In some way, you are. I, writing this, am suffering. It’s part of sin’s curse.

Thanks, Adam.

In all fairness, though, Adam was an accurate representation of humanity. Every one of us would have done the same thing. I would. Who doesn’t want to become God?

Yet even as our hearts cry out for deliverance from this horrible curse known as sin, we already have a solution: God. Cliché again, I’m sure, but I re-emphasize its truth. There is nothing as true as God. He is the God of fulfillment.

The mantra I mentioned earlier is still something I use today. It started in February, as I began to learn about the true goodness and faithfulness of God. Originally, I was astounded. I still am, for that matter. The fact that God would remain faithful to me is unbelievable.

My mantra became more important to me as life began to swing punches. Coronavirus came, and I was uprooted from my culture, my friends, my “family”, my basketball team, and even parts of my school (you can read more about that here). I was then transplanted to this weird country known as the “USA” (come on, a country that’s an acronym?), a country with far too cold of weather and with too many Karens for me to be comfortable.

Most of that last sentence was true.

Life continued to give me what I thought was its worst blows, until finally, in a moment of utmost defiance, I told Satan where he could get off. I regret that now.

Since then, the last four weeks have been perhaps the worst of my life. But do you know what? God is good. All the time, He is good. Every single thing that has happened to me (from being spiritually targeted on multiple levels to the deaths of not one, not two, but three people close to me) has a good reason. And it took Christ bringing me to my knees for me to surrender and say, “God, take this from me, I can’t handle it alone.”

Job’s story seems appropriate. The man had everything: beautiful wife, awesome kids, lots of money, and most importantly, God. He was so well off, in fact, that Satan complained. God, demonstrating His eternal wisdom and power, knew exactly what the Devil wanted to do, and yet He permitted Satan to wreak havoc.

“Do your worst, buddy. My servant will not fail.”

Satan obviously forgot that God works everything for good. Satan did his worst, Job suffered and almost died, yet everything worked out for good. Job got a new wife, new kids, new friends (hopefully), more money, and an even better relationship with God than before. Satan had to have been disappointed.

I like Job.

Clearly, life hasn’t given me its worst shot yet. I still have my family, I am physically fine (although I can’t speak for my mental state), and I am as broke as ever, which means I haven’t lost any money (you can’t lose what you don’t have). In all the pain, suffering, and anger, God has been good. He hasn’t lost his patience with me, nor will He lose it with you.

You see, no matter what happens, God was watching, His heart filled with love and grace. I hear so many people crying out, “Then why did He allow my mom to die”, “Why did my wife have a car accident”, and far far worse.

No matter what happens, God is watching, His heart filled with love and grace.

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Here’s the thing: God is completely in control, but He doesn’t have to do everything. In some ways, He can simply allow things to happen. He is well within his rights to do so, of course. He doesn’t owe you or me anything. God didn’t owe anything to the woman who lost her husband. He simply allowed sin to take its toll.

Blame Adam. It’s all his fault.

When bad things happen, God wasn’t necessarily the one making it happen. Sometimes He does, other times He doesn’t. It’s all up to His wisdom, and yet in that wisdom, He is always in control, regardless of whether or not He takes the reigns. Every single time something happened, God was watching and He knew exactly what He was doing.

The only thing He can’t do is sin, and that’s where we can draw a line. If sin happened, that most certainly wasn’t directly from God. He allowed it to happen.

Why?

Because God allows bad things to happen to bad people so that they can show righteousness.

Why do you think Abraham was labeled “righteous”? It wasn’t just his works that gave him that title, oh no. It was his works and his Faith combined (just read Romans 3-8) brought about through his love for God. Even in the worst moment of his very life, when he was commanded to sacrifice his son, Abraham remained faithful, and his works showed it.

God allows bad things to happen to test us. The Bible tells us to rejoice in moments of persecution and hardship because they give us chances to experience what Christ did (ultimate pain and hardship) and to prove our Faith. We don’t prove it to God, of course, since He knows our hearts. We can use these times to prove our faith to others, thus bolstering our testimony.

Take it from me: life is crap. Pardon my French, but I’m sure God agrees. Do you know what, though?

God loves me.

And in that, I can be satisfied. I am fully content in Him. I trust Him more than any other person, and no matter what happens in my life, I know he’s in control. Even in the pain, the hurt, and the struggle, He is always near. When relationships fail and people turn on each other or on me, I know He’s in control.

Use my story for your own growth. Take it from the man who is at the lowest emotional point of his life. Yet even in the pain and hardship, I refuse to give up on God. He’s my lifeline, and to release Him means death. He is the God of fulfillment.

Trust God.

If you struggle with trusting God, that’s ok. We all do at some point in our lives. I actually wrote about trusting God, and since it’s such a huge piece to our Christian lives, I encourage you to talk to a pastor and learn more.

We have to trust God. Refusal to do so creates a claim that we can do anything and even elevates us above God. That goes right back to the fall, when man tried to become God. Submission brings fulfillment, and fulfillment brings love.

Alright, that’s all for today. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did, make sure to click that Follow button below (or to the side). Then, when I release new posts like this, you’ll get notified. If you own a blog and want some free content for the day, feel free to reblog this post!

Anyway, thanks again, and I hope you have a blessed day.

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