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A Very Good Thing

by Jennifer Woodley 
01/31/21
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‘No good thing does the Lord uphold from those who walk uprightly.’ Psalm 84:11 (NRSV)

How do we make sense of this promise when we seek to faithfully live Jesus’ way, but still suffer from chronic illness? Our mind tells us sickness, pain and suffering is a ‘no good thing’, yet the Lord has chosen to allow this for us.

We need to adopt His perspective or else our own reasoning will make us bitter and angry with God. Perhaps our suffering, which we view as an unfavourable thing, is actually a good thing after all. Perhaps it is the very thing that God works through to deepen our dependence upon Him.

God’s grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). So though our outward body is perishing, our inner nature is being made stronger as we depend upon Christ’s extraordinary power to work in us. And that is a very good thing. In this way the life of Jesus will sustain us. This is our reward; the good thing that He generously gives to all walk uprightly.

For those of us who suffer with pain and sickness, pray for God’s Spirit to enlighten our eyes. Believe in the divine power working within us. Pray that the Spirit will reveal it to us, and take hold of the promise that God will manifest His power in our heart to make us strong. God will show us how to make meaning from our miseries and to shape us into a people who will glorify Him as we faithfully endure in our trials.