Redemption

I have heard many stories of loss, heartache, and pain lately, and at the same time this question seems to be popping up everywhere in my classes, books, etc: How can God be good amongst suffering? If we experience suffering in our lives, will we blame ourselves, blame God, or trust that He is good even amongst the pain? I do not believe God has promised us anything in this life except that He will never leave us and that He has redeemed us and will continue to redeem our lives for His story.

I don't believe redemption in circumstances will always be evident in a clear, reciprocal kind of way. We often look for something good or positive to come out of a bad situation and then call that redemption. I think when bad things happen and we immediately start looking for the good thing so we can say, "ohhhh THAT's why that happened," we are trying to justify things in our simple minds. For example, when I lost my license, did I assume that I was supposed to be witnessing to the officer or the people in the courtroom, as if it was some divine appointment and I had to lose my license to be in that place at that time? Or even just thinking that God "made" it happen to teach me a lesson. We think that there had to be a reason for the bad things or that God caused it happened. Bad things happen because this is a fallen world, and I am a screwed up person. But God redeems these things to make them part of the story of our lives. There are themes in our lives and in our relationship with God...they are part of God's story, which is so much bigger than our lives. I often look at circumstances as isolated events...after I "learn my lesson" or see the good come out of a situation, I can move on and forget about it. But what about a bigger story?

Redemption comes in order to further God's story, and nothing in this life can happen that He cannot redeem to further His plan. The best thing in life will always be knowing God, and nothing can take that away. Life will be hard, pain will come, but like the song I quoted earlier, I trust that the heart of God is good. Many more thoughts on this to come while I'm trying to wrap my brain around it. What are your thoughts?