Lamentations 3:32, "Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love."
"Good things come out of hard times," read the sign on my friend's refrigerator. She had handwritten it and obviously tacked it up as a reminder.
Lamentations 3:38 says, "Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and evil come?" How can this be? Don't we claim to put our faith in a God who is good? How can a good God allow a child to suffer? In our confusion we create man-made gods and ask them to give us "good" things, not realizing that only the uncreated "I AM" can allow both good and evil, and bring something infinitely more wonderful from their union than their separation.
God does not answer the "why" of evil. As a God of compassion, he instead suffers with us. He became a man and endured. He did not exempt himself; He played by His own rules. And through the most unimaginable evil ever to pass, the agony of the shedding of His own blood, He brought about the most beautiful event the earth has ever witnessed.
What good does God have in store in light of my son? For Timothy, I do not yet know. But for myself, God has, and is, doing an amazing work of sanctification. He has not healed Timothy's physical body, but He is healing me of my selfishness. Every time I am forced to put my own agenda aside to meet his needs, I must remind myself that this is His plan for my life, for that moment. My complaining spirit is cleansed bit by bit as He exhorts me to practice thankfulness instead of bitterness; acceptance instead of denial; devotion instead of selfish ambition. I rejoice over each moment with my son, knowing that he belongs not to me but to Him. Through it all, slowly God takes my stubborn flesh and uses difficulty to bring about the peaceful fruit of righteousness, Hebrews 12:11.
And like Paul, I exclaim, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" Romans 11:33
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
