Struggle Well

On some power point slide in class earlier this week, the professor had a bullet point  that “We MUST distinguish between what God does and what God allows” (emphasis mine). I call this struggling well, which is a phrase my counselor used all the time. As I fought through memories of abuse and the question of “why could God let this happen to me?” I learned that God is ALWAYS good. My circumstances and the fallen world in which I live are not good, but God is good in light of the presence of evil in his world. I wrested with this truth a few years back at an intensive week of counseling for women who had been sexually abused. The counselor leading the week repeatedly said that maybe can’t explain evil because we don’t have the categories to understand evil. I also believe I don’t have the categories for understanding the goodness of God. In times of severe struggles, I have to hold tight to what I know is true. The omnipotent God loves me beyond my wildest imagination, he sent Jesus to die on a cross and roll away a stone from the grave for our sins giving us salvation, and he sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us. He will come back again and we will be redeemed. I am thankful that in the midst of pain that I have learned to trust that God is ALWAYS good and to struggle well.