God's Definition of Good

I love reading Jon Acuff's blog, Stuff Christians Like.  Good stuff, funny stuff. 
On "Serious Wednesdays," he digs a little deeper into the Christian faith to encourage and inspire.
Today's devotional resonated with me, so I thought I'd share an excerpt of his thoughts on Romans 8:28:

“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.”

Why did this happen? How can this thing possibly work for the good? Why do bad things happen to good people? You promised good, God, and this isn’t good.

But we’re not promised our purpose. We’re promised God’s purpose. We’re not promised our definition of good. We’re promised God’s definition of good. And in the moment when life crashes down, and our own expectations of what “good” should look like fall apart to ashes, we tend to think God has failed us. Or does not love us. Or that “all things” don’t work for the good, just some things.

The truth, though, is that all things do. How? Because his purpose is exponentially bigger and more beautiful than mine could ever be. He is painting pictures with the universe as his backdrop. He is unraveling stories with generations as his paper. His vision and his ability to define good is so much grander than mine. So when I get his purpose, when whatever situation I’m in works toward his purpose, I don’t get my small definition of good. I get his massive definition of great.

That doesn’t make it easy. That doesn’t make the Christian life carefree or painless. That doesn’t mean you won’t have nights or even years when you don’t doubt and say to God, “You promised me good, and this is not good!” You will. I will too. But my hope is that, when we hold up our broken definition of good to God and ask him what’s going on, we will remember what Christ said about the father in Luke 11:
“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Today might feel like a snake, but it is not. Tomorrow might feel like a scorpion, but it is not. Our great God always works toward a good greater than we can possibly imagine.