All things

"And we know 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

This is one of the most loved verses in the Bible, and one of the most misquoted. It does not say that all things are good. Loss is not good, sickness is not good, injustice is not good, and Paul, who wrote this, was beaten, shipwrecked and imprisoned. The Bible never asks you to pretend that pain does not hurt.

What the verse says is bigger: God WORKS in all things, including the terrible ones, stitching together what we cannot see. Like embroidery seen from underneath: from the back, it is just crossed threads with no meaning. From the top, a design appearing stitch by stitch. We see the back; He embroiders from the front.

The concrete proof is the story of Joseph (the same one from day 9, and not by accident: the Bible insists on it): every disaster in his life, the pit, the slavery, the prison, was, on the top side of the embroidery, a necessary stitch in the design that would save a whole nation from famine. "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." And you probably already have proof in your own story: something that felt like the end of the world at the time and, years later, turned out to be the turn of a chapter. It was not luck. It was the verse at work.

Application in two parts: first, look back and name ONE old back-side that turned into a design, and thank God for it, specifically. Then name the current back-side, the one that today looks like nothing but tangled thread, and hand over the embroidery: "Lord, I cannot see the design; but I know who holds the needle." And keep loving God in the middle of the stitch, because the promise is for those who love him.