August 18, 2025
If today was your last day of life and you knew it, how much time would you spend on things that are insignificant in the scope of eternity? Your minutes would be extremely valuable, and you would choose to spend them on the things that were most important to you.
You would want to love those dearest to you and make sure they know how much they mean to you. If you have ever come face to face with death or been with a loved one through a life-threatening illness and seen their priorities realign, you have probably experienced this firsthand. Everything becomes abundantly clear in those moments. You realize that love is what truly matters—loving God with all your mind, heart, and soul, and loving others (Matthew 22:37–39).
In good times and challenging times, the joy and eternal hope that Jesus offers are light years beyond anything that the world can offer. Fulfillment, peace, love, satisfaction, knowledge, truth—there is nothing in the world that can compete with Him in those areas. The Bible says, “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15–17).
It takes discipline of mind and body to learn to treasure the eternal things of God above the fleeting pleasures that the world has to offer. Nothing this temporal life offers can truly satisfy the deepest cravings of the soul. Only Jesus can truly satisfy. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Everyone has times in their past that they look upon as “dark nights”—tragedies, loss, or difficulties that were largely beyond their control. Sometimes in life we may face challenges or hurt due to our own mistakes or choices or the wrong choices or unloving actions of others. How we react to those challenges determines whether we allow God to work in our lives through them or we allow ourselves to become bitter or defeated by them.
When we have a hard time seeing any good in the difficult times we experience, we can give room to resentment and unhappiness. Those of us who know and love Jesus and know that He loves us so much that He gave His very life for us are called to trust that He is with us in every situation and challenge we face. At such times, we can recite to ourselves the promise in His Word: “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
The Lord can work in and through even the most difficult circumstances for our good in some way. But if we don’t put our trust in Him, we can miss the point, or we won’t reap the benefits He intended. Even the things in our lives that we look back on as “mistakes” could be circumstances that were used or even engineered by the Lord for our good—to help us to grow in our faith, to bring out the best in us, or to draw us closer to Him or to open new doors of opportunity.
It’s not that the Lord necessarily willed these things to happen; He wants only the best for His children. But since they did happen, He wants to work them together for our good. That’s the way the Lord is—He can and will work all things together in our lives for our good, if we’ll let Him.
Finding the good in a bad situation isn’t just a “glad game” exercise or a good idea; it’s vital to our spiritual well-being. If we can’t accept that there could be a silver lining to some of the rain clouds of our past, then it will be very difficult for us to fully forgive and forget those things, and that can lead to bitterness, which is detrimental to our spiritual life. For this reason, it is vital that when we look back at any situation or time that we were wronged, no matter how difficult or painful it was, that we ask the Lord to use that situation for our good.
What greater triumph is there than to bring good out of bad? As Joseph in the Old Testament said to his brothers who had wronged him severely, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).
That’s the ultimate way to conquer our past hurts—not by bitterness and thoughts of revenge, but by allowing the Lord to make us better on account of it and trusting that He can work all things together for our good.
Following are some practical steps for growing in these areas:
Feed your faith. Our faith grows through reading and absorbing God’s Word (Romans 10:17). Consistently feed your faith. Take time to read the written Word, and also to bring your questions and problems to Jesus and ask Him to direct your decisions and actions. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. … God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
Stay focused on Jesus and His promises. When circumstances or troubles work to distract us or distance us from our faith, the Bible tells us to lay aside the weights and stay focused on Jesus and His Word. “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1–2).
Commit every concern and care to God. Bring every care and concern you face each day to God in prayer and thanksgiving, and trust in Him to act on your behalf. Avail yourself of His power and promised help in every time of need. “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ... Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace” (Philippians 4:4–7).
Heavenly Father, I praise and honor You and give glory to You, the God of all creation, who has created all things—the beauty of all that I see, the smallest to the greatest wonders. From the atom to the universe, all are created by Your hand, far surpassing what anyone could imagine or understand.
You are the God of brilliance—the God of depths so deep that none can fathom, of heights so high that none can comprehend, of width and breadth so great that none can ever fill them.
I give You all glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving, for You are so great, mighty, and vast, so wise, loving, and omnipotent. Yet You stoop to love me, to seek and save me, and to bring me into Your kingdom to live with You forever. Thank You! Amen.
Compiled from the writings of Maria Fontaine. Adapted and republished August 2025. Read by Debra Lee. Music by Michael Dooley.
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