Why You Must Fight To See Goodness in the Midst of Your Suffering

Hard stuff can rip us apart if we let it, if we don’t see God’s goodness, but suffering doesn’t have to be joyless. 

In Press Into the Lord Now and Know a Confidence Not Even Death Can Shake, I wrote of the incredible pain I experienced in the death of my unborn children. 

In that pain, I nursed much anger and sorrow. Bitterness invaded my heart while questions raced through my mind.

Where was this God of goodness? My arms would remain empty although life had been promised. There would be no baby. How could this be good?

Pain and Goodness

The deaths of my unborn children weren’t good. What I was missing, though, was the truth that pain doesn’t exclude goodness from my life. Suffering doesn’t exist apart from beauty and grace but rather is intertwined with them.  

Pain doesn't exclude goodness from our lives. Suffering doesn't exist apart from beauty and grace but rather is intertwined with them. Share on X

God embodies goodness. And He infused creation, this creation in which we experience joys and sorrows, with His goodness. 

Yet amid the heartache, I couldn’t see any of it … couldn’t believe any of it. I let my suffering consume me, totally missing the constant presence and workings of the God of goodness.

I couldn’t see goodness because I had turned my heart away from Him. 

Think on Christ and See Goodness

In an excellent article about contentment , Tom Hicks writes,

“Its only by thinking on Christ, His glories, His wisdom, His greatness, and His perfect love for you, that you will be able to grow little by little, more and more, into contentment for your own joy and for the glory of God. It’s when you purposely, and in a disciplined way, draw near to Christ from the heart that you can learn to keep God’s law, to be content, and reap the blessings of it.” (Founders Ministries)

The Lord eventually wooed me into letting Him into my suffering. A lifeline that I don’t take for granted. I know how easy it is for a breaking heart to turn away from Him. 

So as Mr. Hicks suggested I’ve disciplined myself to think on Christ. Every night on social media, I post three gifts of the day … three pieces of goodness in my life.

Some days, it is not easy to come up with even one! Yet I find it an essential exercise to remind me and focus my day’s thoughts on the fact that with God in my life, there is always goodness.  

Counting gifts has become a way of life for me because it’s how I keep grounded in the goodness of God when so much around me looks bad.

Joy and Contentment Will Follow

Purposely turning our hearts toward the Lord doesn’t promise a life of ease and comfort, but instead one of joy and contentment. 

Purposely turning our hearts toward the Lord doesn't promise a life of ease and comfort, but instead one of joy and contentment. Share on X

Focusing on God, His sovereignty and love, and what He brings to our lives (life itself, for starters), strengthens battered hope. 

Remembering that evil has not and will never win because of the sacrifice Jesus Christ places the happenings of this earthly life in perspective.

Reminding ourselves of the promise of life eternal with the Savior redefines death for a follower of Christ. 

Knowing that we are never alone in our suffering—that suffering brings us into closer fellowship with the Lord—provides us with hope when all looks hopeless. 

Believing that we only see in part, but He sees in whole, fills our messes with possibilities. 

Fighting to see goodness in the midst of our pain requires us to get our minds and hearts off of our sad and sorry state onto God’s promises of the lasting beauty to come and the companionship and support He already provides. Praise and thanksgiving are two powerful tools to do just that. That’s why I wrote my first devotional, Everyday Praise: Walking in Greater Peace.

Power of Intentional Praise and Thanksgiving

Don’t worry about whether you feel grateful or hopeful. Sometimes I feel I’m just going through the motions. 

But those motions help us realign our minds and hearts to believing truth. A critical component to rising above the pain and messiness of our lives.  

Thinking on Christ by intentionally looking for His goodness in the minor moments of our lives won’t change our circumstances. We will still hurt.

But noting His goodness will certainly change how those circumstances influence our attitudes and our actions.

Thinking on Christ by intentionally looking for His goodness in the minor moments of our lives won't change our circumstances. We will still hurt. But noting His goodness will change how those circumstances influence our attitudes and our actions. Share on X

Tracing God’s fingerprints on our lives will remind us of a bigger plan. A sweet outcome we can’t yet see. An ending that is really a beautiful beginning. His grace and the glory to come. 

And that provides hope no matter how deep of a mess we’re wading in! 

Tracing God's fingerprints on our lives will remind us of a bigger plan. A sweet outcome we can't yet see. An ending that is really a beautiful beginning. And that provides hope no matter how deep of a mess we're wading in! Share on X

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” Psalm 28:7 ESV

Reflections: Have you let painful circumstances consume you? What goodness might you see if you trace God’s fingerprints in your life?