Dear Friend,
“Good grief!” Charlie Brown loves to say that after inevitable mishaps.
Somehow when we’re in the middle of grief, however, it doesn't really feel good.
There’s plenty of grief in this world, isn’t there? It hurts so bad when we see others suffer or experience suffering ourselves.
And let’s be honest: some situations seem to be getting worse. We hold on to hope that they will someday get better, but right now, they are decidedly not good.
As I was noticing the pain of this world, the lyrics of two separate songs spoke into the moment:
“He’s not done until it’s good”
“If it’s not good, then He’s not done, no He’s not done with it yet”
In other words, if I can point to a situation and say, “This is not good,” then I can point at the same situation and say, “God’s not done with it yet.”
As with any message we receive, we need to see if it squares with the Bible. Can we find this idea somewhere in scripture?
It sure is!
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
Let’s analyze it a bit:
Who started the “good work”? God did. (Not us.)
Who made it good? God did.
What’s the promise here? God WILL complete the “good work.”
What’s the implication? There is a process. You and I are “in process” and that process has a final destination: Goodness. God’s definition of goodness.
This idea of something not being done until it’s good is really the gist of the full, big-picture biblical narrative:
God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them, declaring, “It’s good.”
He added humans and couldn’t contain his delight: “It’s very good!”
He placed humans in a perfect garden and told them to rule and multiply.
Tragically, a deceiver enticed them to rebel against God’s goodness, and they faced the consequences.
Belief in lies, pride, doing what seems right in our own eyes, broken humanity, and broken creation—can all still be felt today.
Paul puts it this way:
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.” Romans 8:22-23
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. The earth is groaning. The animals and plants are groaning. Humans are groaning. We are all under the “bondage to decay” (v. 21).
But God.
But God.
But God.
Only God could and can and will fix such a mess.
How?
God himself is using a process. His plan has a past, present, and future.
Past
About 2000 years ago, he sent Jesus—who was fully human and fully God—to show us the Father (John 14:9) and face the consequences of sin that were due to us by dying on a cross in our place (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus triumphed over sin and death and proved it by rising from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) to proclaim one incredible announcement:
God is in the process of redeeming all things. Dealing a death blow to sin was just the first step.
Present
In the present, the Holy Spirit is currently interceding for us:
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27
So the Spirit is groaning, too. Wild.
Future
And the future? God has revealed some wild plans there, too.
Isaiah describes it this way:
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” Isaiah 65:17
In John’s vision, the future scene is vivid:
“Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” Revelations 21:1-5
Wow. Wow. Wow.
God has BIG PLANS for making everything right:
- New heaven. New earth. (Not the broken, hurting world we see today.)
- God living with humanity.
- God’s real, tangible presence.
- God wiping every tear from our eyes.
- No more death.
- No more mourning, crying, or pain.
- Everything new, completely redeemed.
All this future stuff is amazing, but what about today? What about the not-yet-good situations we currently face?
May I offer some suggestions?
Groan
If you’re grieving, grieve. If you’re angry, listen to what the anger is trying to speak. Process those emotions with a journal or a trusted, godly friend or counselor. But take those groans to the feet of Jesus. Sit at his feet with them. He experienced every human emotion. He can handle your big stuff. Let him minister to you in your pain (Matthew 5:4).
Allow the Spirit to groan for us
Sometimes we don’t have anything left. We may have prayed for years over a situation. We may have given all of ourselves physically or emotionally to fight some giants. At this point, we can just lay down and know that God can interpret our groans. In fact, the Spirit is groaning for us and with us. His groans are powerful; He’s interceding in accordance with God’s will. We may have talked ourselves blue in the face advising God how to solve our problems (ahem, can I get a witness?!), but God’s all over this and has a heavenly perspective that we don’t get yet. We simply need to sit in His presence, breathe in and breathe out and REST, knowing that He’s working on the bigger plan. Here we might pray, “YOU, God, started this good process. I trust you are working on it. I trust that you will complete it.”
Pray the scriptures over hard situations
The word of God reveals his will, so when we pray his word, we know we are praying what he wants and what pleases him. How do we do it? Take a scripture like, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” We can turn that into a little prayer like, “Thank you, God, that you call me a ‘conqueror.’ Thank you that you say ‘in all things’ I am a conqueror. Thank you that I am not alone. I can be a conqueror only ‘through you.’ Thank you that you love me.” Or if you’re praying for a loved one, flip it that direction: “Thank you, God, that you call ________ a ‘conqueror.’ Thank you that you say ‘in all things’ ___________ is a conqueror. Thank you that _________ is not alone. _____________ can be a conqueror only ‘through you.’ Thank you that you love __________.” What does praying scripture do? It 1) pleases God, 2) strengthens our faith and 3) puts truth on our lips.
Remember a testimony is being written
Reflect on the goodness God has shown you in the past. Where did the twists and turns lead you? How has God taken a previously not-good-yet situation and redeemed it somehow? At one point I had to move to a place I didn’t really want to be. I lamented having to leave my former location. But then every time I made a new friend in the new place, I would make a mental note, “I would have never met this beautiful, wonderful soul if I hadn’t had to move here.” Your testimony is being written. There’s no testimony without a test.
Look for the good
God's intention is always to create good. He often leaves little breadcrumbs pointing to his goodness. Has God given you any little gifts in the middle of a painful season? Ask him to show you. Gifts might be as simple as clean bedsheets, a squeeze of a hand from a loved one, sunshine on your face, a melody, fresh air in your lungs.
Be thankful
The other day I could feel myself slipping into grumpiness twinged with sadness. I had to force myself to be thankful. Every negative thought that entered had to be counteracted with a statement of thanks. Here’s an example. Thought: “Oh, man, another pile of dishes.” Immediately, I had to force a different thought, a Prayer of Thankfulness: “Thank you for this warm water. Thank you that I have water. Thank you that I have a way to make things fresh and clean.”
Sing a song
Get a great, truthful song and put it on repeat until the words sneak past your frontal lobe and get into your soul. Why not start with Fear Is Not My Future and Joy In The Morning that emphasize today’s truth?
“If it’s not good, God’s not done with it yet.”
So, friend, what do you think? Can there be good grief? Yes, if it points us back to the Creator who says, “Behold, I am making all things new!”
With love,
Your Friend