Hope and the future
Romans 8:28
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."— Romans 8:28, NIV
Reflection
This verse is most often quoted when something terrible has happened and someone wants to say something hopeful but doesn't know what. The danger is using it to skip the lament — to rush past the pain because, after all, it's all working for good. That's not what Paul is saying. He's saying the threads of every event — the joy and the catastrophe alike — are being woven into something. He doesn't say every individual thing IS good. He says God is working in all of them, for good. There's room in this verse for tears.
Prayer
God, I can't see the pattern from here. Help me trust that you can. Hold what I can't make sense of yet.