better together

by Eddie Moody, Executive Secretary, National Association of Free Will Baptists

God Works in You

Recently, on a Better Together Podcast, Chaplain Frank Gregory said, “God’s way is perfect!” He was describing how God prepared him for the work he does in prisons today. When Frank was nine years old, his father died. Frank was devastated, but today, when he notifies a prisoner about the death of a father, spouse, or child, he is grateful for what God taught him during that difficult childhood. God is using his pain from 50 years ago.

After Frank’s podcast was published, James Benedict, president of Arms of Compassion, called me and said, “Have you ever noticed how God works through such difficult situations to do His good pleasure?” Arms of Compassion has a wonderful ministry to people who are homeless and impacted by natural disasters. James, too, has experienced difficulties, including learning his daughter was homeless. That pain propelled him to help more people than we will know until we get to Heaven.

There is a great deal of pain today. We have been rocked by the pandemic and are also heartbroken by recent tragedies in Afghanistan, Haiti, and around the world. At home, we have witnessed relentless destruction from tornadoes, floods, and fires. Yet, in the face of all the pain, we have a God working in us to do His good pleasure. How will God use these tragedies in the future? Only He knows, but we can be assured He will use this pain for our good and His glory.

As a counselor, I often worked with people who had Romans 8:28 quoted to them out of context. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.”

We should not quote that passage to a widow who just lost her husband or a parent who has lost a child. But all of us should hold that passage in our minds. It is important for us to think about and apply to our own lives. How might God use abuse, abandonment, rejection, loss, or pain we have experienced?

Joseph could not have known how God would use his imprisonment to mature and prepare him to be prime minister. Saul could not have known how God would use his persecution of Christians to later propel the gospel. In fact, we may not know in this life how God is working in and through our own situations (the case with Job) until we are with the Lord.

As we experience pain, we can take refuge in the Lord (Psalm 46). We can know that somehow, some way, God will use the pain to perfect us as His instruments, and even use it for our own good. Even when we lose, in Christ, we win.

About the columnist: Eddie Moody is the executive secretary of the National Association of Free Will Baptists.