Article May 27, 1991 Issue

Let's prove the continuity of good

Through steadfast reliance on God we can turn troubling times into proof of God's uninterrupted goodness.

Brian Berry

Can such things as deep personal sorrow, severe financial loss, or a crippling illness "work together for good"? In the face of challenging circumstances we can find comfort in St. Paul's assurance in the book of Romans that "all things work together for good to them that love God."

Certainly, when we're immersed in the darkness of a difficult situation, it is very hard to see the daylight, to see any good at all. Yet a ray of hope can penetrate the darkness for us if we are receptive to it—if we refuse to be impressed by the appearance that everything is against us and instead choose to rely wholeheartedly on the one God, who is infinite good and whose love for us is constant.

The story of Joseph in the Bible describes what happened to a young man who stood on the threshold of adulthood apparently with everything against him. The book of Genesis tells us that jealous brothers abandoned him in a pit, and he was later sold like so much merchandise into slavery in Egypt. He prospered for a while as the head of an Egyptian official's household until his master's wife tried to seduce him. His firm refusal to cooperate resulted in false accusations and imprisonment for him. Yet it was through being in that prison that he met Pharaoh's butler, who later told Pharaoh of Joseph's ability as an interpreter of prophetic dreams. This opened the door to Joseph's great career as a ruler in Egypt, because his highly perceptive interpretation of Pharaoh's dream saved the land from famine.

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