Have you ever wondered how God could work all things together for good in your life? Maybe you’re in a situation that feels impossible, a marriage that is unraveling, a job environment that is unhealthy and all you can see is HARD.
In my Proverbs 31 Ministries devotion today, I share how I wrestled with this in the midst of very difficult circumstances during and after our daughter’s adoption, and the ways God showed me HOW He was working things for “good” in unexpected ways.
If you hopped over from my devotion, I’m so glad you stopped by! As promised, here are a few photos that tell part of the story of us bringing our beautiful girl home. {And there’s special giveaway at the end of this post.}
All I could see were the hard parts. Everything we would have to give up: sleep, money, comfort, familiarity, others’ approval. All the hard things we would have to navigate: huge expenses and significant changes.
What if our sons resented us for re-arranging their lives forever? What if our parents and extended family didn’t approve? What if we exhausted our time, emotions and money only to end up with broken hearts and an empty bank account? How could God work all that together for good?
I could not see how. I could only see “hard.” Yet we knew God was calling our family to adopt a severely malnourished baby girl from Ethiopia. And in October 2009 we brought Aster home.
Was it hard? Yes. Even more than I imagined.
But as I trace God’s hand over the past five years since we brought Aster home, I see Him working countless things {together} for good. Most of all, I see a handwritten love letter sent to our little girl from her Heavenly Father, written on every page of our adoption story.
I see God working the hard things together for good. Despite our inadequacy, sadness and fear of the unknown when Aster was diagnosed with a speech disorder, global developmental delays, low muscle tone and sensory processing disorder, I now see God working it all for good.
I see God working the overwhelming things together for good. A year of sleepless nights brought out servant-hearted compassion in our teenage sons when they saw their dad struggling with depression caused by sleep-deprivation. I’ll never forget the night they decided to take turns sleeping on a mattress in their sister’s room to relieve her anxiety and give us back our desperately needed sleep.
I see God working even the embarrassing things together for good. Like the day I had a meltdown in my car and a stranger tapped on my window to see if I was okay. And that same afternoon, I ran out of gas on my way to get my youngest son at basketball which mean my oldest son, who had a new cast on his broken foot, had to push our car off the road. I see awesome stories for them to tell their children about me one day.
When my reality doesn’t look or feel like “good” to me, I ask God to help me see how. How he is keeping his promise that “in all things [He] works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Roman 8:28).
What I’ve discovered is this: God is always working things together for good, but not just for our good. Sometimes we are part of His working things together for someone else’s good.
You see, I believe Jesus heard a mother in Africa praying for her baby. A mother who was living in the middle of “hard” like I’d never imagined. A mother who couldn’t see how she could give her little girl the nurture and nutrition she needed.
Hagere: Aster’s birth-mother feeding her during our visit.
And when God heard that mama’s prayers, He tapped on the heart of a family in North Carolina who loved Him and were called according to His purpose. I also believe God saw an orphanage in Ethiopia searching for a forever family to provide unconditional love and medical care for a 6-month old, 8 pound baby with pneumonia.
So Jesus went back to that family in North Carolina who had been asking God to reveal Himself to them and through them, knowing this little girl would be an answer to that prayer.
And that’s when God started working the hard, impossible, and overwhelming things {together} for good.
Is there a relationship or situation in your life where all you see is hard? Have you asked God how He can work some part of it together for good?
I don’t know about you, but some days I need a tangible reminder that He can. A visual that prompts me to pray and helps me remember how He does, like the beautiful bead necklace I’m wearing below made from repurposed bullets found in the rubble of Ethiopian soil.
Each time I look at it, I remember how God answered a desperate mother’s prayers for her baby and filled my family’s longing to experience more of Him. Only He could know how much we needed the gift of a little girl to light up our world, and to remind us that He indeed can work even the hardest things {together} for good.
ENTER TO WIN To celebrate how Jesus takes the hard and heart-breaking realities of life and works them together for good, Proverbs 31 Ministries is partnering with Fashion & Compassion to create a beautiful jewelry line from repurposed bullets found in the rubble of Ethiopian soil. “SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS” under this post and you’ll be entered to win.
The From Bullets to Blessings Collection is handcrafted from Ethiopian bullets, dug out of rubble, and assembled by vulnerable and rescued women throughout Mexico and Charlotte, NC. CLICK HERE to find out more about the collection and the women who create these pieces. It’s a beautiful picture of God working the hard things together for good in their lives through Fashion & Compassion.
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What a beautiful story of love and obedience. When we listen God so moves and He is glorified. He does work everything out. We just have to trust. I love that He is always there and He brings us through it. I am always so glad that He knows the end of the story and that gives me peace. Thank you for sharing this beautiful story!!
This is a great story for all of us. I especially needed it today. My “hard” is nothing compared to what you have been through and accomplished. To give up a great deal to save one of God’s children is one of the best ways to show God’s glory on His earth.
I pray that my “hard” will eventually glorify God. Thank you for takinga baby from Ethiopia. I have met many people from there as well as Eretria. They are a blessing.
God bless all of you. You have wonderful children who understand what it means to work as a family for God’s glory.
Thank you for sharing pictures. They really bring your story to life and touched my heart. It truly is amazing how God works for the good of those who love him! 🙂
God is so faithful and blessed you greatly by being faith-filled.
It’s so easy to focus on our hard while missing the how in God’s use of us, his vessels.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing pictures. They really bring your story to life and touched my heart. It truly is amazing how God works for the good of those who love him!
Oh how BEAUTIFUL! Brought tears to my eyes…thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for your story of trusting God through the difficult times. I too am in a situation of trusting. Though I can’t see the why of it all I can trust my loving Savior and leave the why to Him.
Exactly the storyline I was pondering when I read an email before reading your blog. Thank you for the confirmation.
Beautiful story. And a place we all find ourselves at some point in our lives. Thank-you for your transparency.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Renee! How Aster’s mom must have ached at the condition of her little one in a hard situation that we can’t even fathom. And how beautifully God used you and your family, even through the hard, to bless Aster, her birth mother and all of you. The pictures brought tears to my ears. Thank you for the reminder that God has a purpose in all things: the easy, and sometimes especially the hard. ♡
What a beautiful example of how God works in our lives. Often we don’t see the big picture, for our eyes are focused inwards instead of towards heaven. Thank you for sharing and reminding us of his greatness.
thanks so much for sharing this….it has brightened my day and made me see lifes situations and circumstances in another light.
keep on keeping on, God bless you and your lovely family. i pray Gods amazing grace and heart of love poured on you all
Thanks so much for sharing! I needed that! We get so stuck on the hard and don’t look for the beautiful that God is making out of it!
Renee,
What a beautiful story of God’s grace and mercy! Thank you for sharing your story. What an encouragement to me and many others (I’m sure!) It is wonderful that you can look back at those hard days and see our amazing God working in your family and in the lives of others. You have all chosen to focus on God’s goodness. I have been challenged to do the same.
Thank you for sharing your story. I am so encouraged by seeing God’s hand in each part of it. My family is in a hard place right now, but He daily gives me what I need to be the mom and wife He called me to be. Thankful!!
Thank you for sharing your story…opened my eyes, again, to Gods purpose.
Thank you so much for your beautiful story of adoption. It is a wonderful encouragement to me today. It helps me to see more clearly the big picture for my adopted son…to see the “love letter” that God has written for him. Our son turns 18 in December, and we are seeing some things come together for him that we know are from God. Reading your story, helps me to look back at his journey that has brought him to this place and time and KNOW that God is working all the HARD things out for him for his good purpose….and it is a beautiful thing to see. Thank you for the reminder!
Beautiful story. Beautiful reminder. Thank you and God bless your family.
I love adoption stories. We have our own story and while it is unlike yours, the theme is the same. Love and redemption….and grace! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your story because im reminded that we serve a might and faithful God. All I see is hard when I had to pick up and move to be with and help my daughter and her fight with alcoholism. As I see breakthrough I am so thankful that I trust in a God who knows what he is doing.