Come and See

There are moments in life when it’s hard to imagine that anything good could come from our pain.

A marriage falls apart.

A loved one passes away.

A diagnosis changes everything.

A friendship ends.

A dream you’ve held for years suddenly slips away.

In moments like these, well-meaning people sometimes say, “Everything happens for a reason.” While those words are often spoken with kindness, they can leave us feeling misunderstood. When our hearts are hurting, simple answers rarely bring lasting comfort.

So we ask a deeper question:

Can anything good really come from this?

The Bible doesn’t ignore that question. In fact, it invites us to wrestle with it.

One of the most well-known verses in the Bible, Romans 8:28, tells us that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him.

But what exactly does that mean?

What Does the Bible Mean by “Good”?

First, it doesn’t mean that everything that happens to us is good.

Illness is not good.

Abuse is not good.

Betrayal is not good.

Death is not good.

We still live in a world deeply affected by sin and brokenness. The Bible doesn’t ask us to pretend painful things aren’t painful. When Jesus saw Mary and those around her grieving the death of Lazarus, He was deeply moved and wept with them. Even knowing that He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus did not treat their sorrow as insignificant. There is room for grief, sorrow, and honest questions.

So when Romans 8:28 says that God works all things for good, it isn’t telling us to call something good when it is actually painful or evil.

The very next verse helps us understand what Paul means.

Romans 8:29 tells us that God’s purpose is to conform His people to the image of His Son—to make them more like Jesus.

That changes the way we understand the promise of Romans 8:28.

The “good” God promises isn’t necessarily a life without hardship, getting everything we pray for, or eventually seeing every painful situation turn into something pleasant. God is accomplishing something deeper. He is transforming His people to become more like Christ.

This means something painful can remain genuinely painful while God is still at work through it.

We see this throughout Scripture.

Joseph: When Someone Else Hurts Us

Joseph was betrayed by his own brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and forgotten in prison.

None of those things were good.

Years later, however, Joseph could look back and recognize that God had been working through circumstances he never would have chosen. Through Joseph, God ultimately preserved many lives during a severe famine.

Joseph didn’t pretend his brothers’ actions were good. He recognized that what they intended for evil, God was able to use for good.

Their evil remained evil.

But their evil was not greater than God’s ability to redeem it.

Paul: When God Doesn’t Remove the Struggle

The apostle Paul experienced something different.

He pleaded with God three times to remove what he called his “thorn in the flesh.”

God didn’t remove it.

Instead, Paul discovered that God’s grace was sufficient for him and that God’s strength could be displayed through his weakness.

Paul didn’t receive the answer he wanted. His struggle remained.

But that didn’t mean God wasn’t working.

Sometimes God’s work in our suffering isn’t immediately changing what is happening around us, but changing what is happening within us—teaching us dependence, strengthening our faith, and making us more like Christ.

Jesus: Redemption Through the Cross

The clearest example of God accomplishing His redemptive purposes through suffering is Jesus Himself.

The cross looked like complete defeat.

It involved betrayal.

Injustice.

Suffering.

Death.

To those watching, it seemed that evil had won.

Yet God was at work even there.

Through His death, Jesus paid the penalty for sin and made reconciliation with God possible. His sacrifice was unique—Jesus accomplished something through His death that none of us could accomplish for ourselves or for anyone else.

And through His resurrection, Jesus showed that sin and death would not have the final victory.

The cross shows us something remarkable about God: He can accomplish His redemptive purposes even through the worst that human sin can do.

What appeared to be defeat became the means through which God offered forgiveness and reconciliation through Christ.

Then Why Is the World Still Broken?

That naturally raises another question.

If Jesus defeated sin and death, why do we still experience them?

Because the story isn’t finished yet.

Jesus’ resurrection didn’t mean that sin, suffering, and death would immediately disappear. We still experience their painful effects today.

Romans 8 describes creation as “groaning” as it waits for the day God fully restores what has been broken.

Christians live in that tension. We believe Jesus has already accomplished what is necessary to rescue us from sin, while we are still waiting for the day when He will completely remove its effects.

Until then, people still sin.

Bodies still become sick.

Relationships still break.

People still grieve.

Death is still a reality.

But Christians believe these things will not last forever.

The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope that death doesn’t have the final word and that one day God will make all things right.

What Does This Mean for Us?

Maybe your story doesn’t look like Joseph’s or Paul’s.

Maybe you can’t look back yet and see what God has done.

Maybe you never will fully understand why something happened.

And that can be difficult.

Romans 8:28 isn’t a promise that one day every painful experience will suddenly make sense to us.

It’s a promise about God.

Our hope doesn’t rest on our ability to understand everything that happens. It rests on His character.

He is loving.

He is faithful.

He is wise.

And He is still at work, even when we cannot see what He is doing.

Perhaps today you’re carrying a burden that feels too heavy to bear.

Maybe you’re wondering if your situation will ever change.

Maybe you’re waiting for answers that haven’t come.

You don’t have to pretend that what happened was good.

You don’t have to pretend that it doesn’t hurt.

And you don’t have to force yourself to find a lesson in every painful experience.

Instead, the Bible invites us to place even the parts of our lives we don’t understand into the hands of the God who is able to redeem what is broken.

The God who was at work in Joseph’s story, who sustained Paul in his weakness, and who brought redemption through the cross is still at work today.

No pain is beyond His reach.

No brokenness is beyond His ability to redeem.

God isn’t asking you to pretend your pain isn’t real. He’s inviting you to trust that He is still at work.

And because of Jesus, redemption—not suffering—has the final word.

🤔 Take a Moment to Reflect

• Is there a painful situation in my life that I’ve begun to believe is beyond hope?
• Am I asking God only to remove my suffering, or am I also willing to trust Him while I’m walking through it?
• How does knowing that God’s purpose is to make His people more like Christ change the way I understand Romans 8:28?
• What do Joseph, Paul, and Jesus show me about God’s ability to work through circumstances that are genuinely painful?

📖 Read It for Yourself

If you’d like to explore this further, spend some time reading:

• Romans 8:18–39 — Notice how Paul acknowledges present suffering while pointing toward future hope.
• Genesis 50:15–21 — Notice the difference between what Joseph’s brothers intended and what God accomplished.
• 2 Corinthians 12:7–10 — Consider what Paul learned when God didn’t remove his struggle.

As you read, ask yourself:

• What do these passages teach me about God’s character?
• How can God bring good without calling evil “good”?
• What kind of “good” is God accomplishing?

What difference does Jesus make when suffering is still part of our world?