When We Don’t Like What God Allows (Part II)
“God doesn’t waste a thing—not one thing.”
A few months after we moved to the Middle East, I saw on Facebook that my mentor and friend, Janet Erwin, was in the hospital with a life-threatening diagnosis. Within weeks, she went to be with the Lord.
The week we flew home from the Middle East, I received word about another mentor from my student ministry days who took a turn for the worse. He also went to be with the Lord within days.
Two weeks ago, at the very end of this seemingly long year, a friend from middle and high school was the victim of a murder-suicide. She was my age and had a three-year-old. She was a model of health and a ray of laughter and light in every area of her life, which seemingly ended in tragedy.
During Jeremy’s sickness, another friend let me know her husband of almost 40 years was battling terminal cancer. I saw yesterday that he went to be with the Lord a few days before Christmas.
I don’t always like what God allows.
In the words of Dr. Barnette, “There, I said it and I’ll own it.” Now we can at least talk about it.
“I'm confused with John the Baptist:
The outcome hasn't changed.
Hard-headed like old Cephas:
There's gotta be another way.
I'm with Mary and Martha:
You showed up a little late.
Can I ask You all my questions?
Will my doubt scare You away?”
—Bethany Barnard, “Feast of Your Faithfulness”
Story after story reveals what we all experience at one time or another after we live a few years: we all endure suffering. And these seasons can feel pointless—a heartbreaking tragedy, a potential that is lost, or a life ended too soon.
What a waste, it seems.
Yet, throughout the Scriptures I still bet my life on, God reveals He is the better Author to the stories I want Him so desperately to change. With my editor’s quill in hand, He gently asks me to hand it over to Him as He writes a better ending than the one I imagine (Hebrews 12:1–3).
One of Janet’s sayings was how God always weaves everything—both the seemingly insignificant things and the suffering He leads us through—back together. She would tell how her story took these different twists and turns, and how God brought back most skill sets, relationships, and circumstances in time. “He never wastes a thing,” she proclaimed boldly as only Janet could.
And I have to believe, through the help and faith of the Church and the Word being proclaimed and sung over me and by the power of the Holy Spirit, that what God allows and ordains will not be wasted. He writes a better story, sees an eternal kingdom, and plants us where we will best grow for His glory (James 5:7–8). And even in our suffering, He weeps with us (John 11:35).
The lives of my friends and family who have gone to be with Jesus in heaven are not wasted. Their lives honored the Lord, and I am confident each would proclaim:
It’s worth it. He’s worth it. Keep going. Keep trusting. He is worthy.
“Hey there, old friend ... Love ya.”
“I love you, always!”
“God will bring the right things into your life at His time ... Anticipate how you’ll see Him at work.
May God use you in a mighty way and may you be amazed at how He uses you. May He open the hearts of the people to you and the gospel message you bring in the midst of deep tragedy. Be strong in His might and power! Love you.”
“Just sang your ever-loving praises to some woman at WMU. And it was all the truth! Hope you are well.”
“Hey Court. I was thinking today about love, and how true love is never ending. I love you forever. ”
“Your words offer water to those around you. Your presence can be the warmth of sunlight in their life. This world can be so cruel, but stay focused on Him.”
“With God, nothing is bad. Everything is good and can be an opportunity to lead us to Jesus.”
Keep telling the stories of the ones you love. Keep sharing and speaking about them and the influence they had on your life. Keep remembering and telling the next generation of God’s goodness and faithfulness throughout eternity.
How else will they know if we don’t speak about God and His faithfulness through the stories we tell and the gospel message we proclaim? A part of worship is remembering and retelling.
I may not always like what God allows, yet the ways He used the lives of those mentioned above and the difficult circumstances He allowed in our lives have proclaimed His faithfulness to me and to so many others. The stories could fill the earth. I have to believe nothing is wasted—not one life or circumstance (2 Corinthians 4:14–16). Keep seeking Him and trusting Him, dear friends.
“I want you to know:
You're not alone—you are not alone.
I want you to know:
This narrow road you're on leads you home.
For if we believe that Jesus died,
And if we believe He rose again,
We can believe we'll reunite
Just like He promised.
Though the branches are empty,
Though this place looks nothing like the Promised Land,
Unseen things, they are changing.
The wilderness and wasteland shall be glad.”
—Bethany Barnard, “Comfort”
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
—Romans 8