God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist.
–Augustine of Hippo
I chewed on this for just a little bit this morning. It is a nice follow up to what I had said yesterday, as it relates to our inability to foresee the possible harvest of fruit which may be born from a what we perceive as bad situation or event.
There are times when I am able to talk with someone who is struggling and share that I have been through a similar situation. Our ability to push through bad times enables us to later say to someone, “I’ve been there, I know what you’re going through.” Sharing those words with someone may be just what they need to hear. I know this isn’t news to you. But I know I need to be reminded daily of the bigger picture. Sharing the confidence and experiences I have will hopefully bring with them affirmation that others have pushed through where they are at. Do those words always make them feel better? No. But they may be a seed planted.
God, in His infinite power, easily could eliminate all the bad and challenging things I have and will endure. He could eliminate all the things happening around me, like the tornadoes and floods, the famines, the atrocities against the innocents, the list goes on and on. Hippo has the perspective I need to embrace–God has a greater perspective than I will ever have. He has shown me instances of good coming from evil. Fruit from suffering. The oasis in the desert.
Our sharing is not always of stories and examples from my own life, but things I have heard firsthand from those closest to me or even read in books. We need to share with others the goodness God is doing in our lives. I believe we often are only the carrier of seeds, having in our possession seeds we got from someone else but they are not necessarily for bearing fruit in our own lives but in the lives of others. That is one reason I LOVE listening to the stories people tell me. Yes, they may bear fruit in my life, but they give me a bigger basket of seeds to plant in the lives of others.
Oh, may my perspective always echo those of Paul –
“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
He doesn’t say in “some” things, or in “most” things. In ALL things. Believing those words and living those words requires faith and hope. Today, may you have opportunity to share faith and hope with someone, perhaps that someone is yourself. I can never have too much faith and hope. The more I have, the more I am able to share.