"Some Things Just Don't Seem Good, Right?"

Have you ever been placed in a situation, or placed yourself in a situation, and then asked, “How the heck did I get here?” One of the greatest reality checks I have ever had was coming to the realization that life doesn’t always work out the way I want it too… I can’t always control what happens around me, I can’t control how other people are going to respond to me, I can’t always control the situations I am in, but I can control how I respond. One of the greatest lies that the enemy feeds us is that we are powerless in these situations & that God left us to fend for ourselves.

It's not about the size
of the boat, it's about Who
is in control of the storm...

What it really comes down to is do you believe God is good, His plan is good, He is in control & that ‘in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose,’ (Romans 8:28)?

Let’s keep it real. Some of the situations we face in life are out right horrible. Some of the situations we were born into were extremely hard. Some of the people around us just don’t seem to care. Some of the things that are going around us just don’t seem ‘good.’

However, I truly believe what Paul said to the Athenians about how God, “determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us,” (Acts 17:27). Paul declared that you are where you are for a reason. You are in the family that you are in for a reason. You are in the country you are in for a reason. You are in the city you are in for a reason.

And that reason is that you would turn to God & reach out for Him, though He is

not far from you!

There is a reason you were born
where & when you were born...

However, so often our situations, struggles, confusion, hurt, fear & disillusionment compel us to do the opposite. We react out of our hurt & run from God. We react out of anger & we blame God. We react out of our frustration & we question God. What if you changed the way that you saw why you are where you are? What if you began to let the foundation of your perspective on life be that God is good & somehow He is working this for His good & your good?

What if you came to the realization that you are not powerless, but the same power that rose Christ from the dead is living inside of you so that you could respond to your situations with the heart of God? How different would your life be?

What if you started to look at your life with the perspective that your greatest struggle is meant to be the place of God’s greatest victory in your life? It is time we changed the way we see where we are & why we are. It is as Mark Batterson writes, in his book, In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, “God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. But the right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the wrong time.”

Where & why you are is intentional. It’s time to begin to interpret your life through the goodness of God & His goodness towards you. Maybe you’re thinking, ‘Well, I put myself in this situation.’ Do you believe that God is good enough to turn you around & turn your situation around for your good?

What happens may not always look good,

but in it & through it God is working for your good!