Dear Family and Friends,
 
One of my favorite “retirement” activities is preaching once a month at a nearby retirement community.
 
Serving the sweet residents who faithfully gather to hear God’s Word is truly an honor and privilege. 
 
Allow me to share a shortened version of a recent message – – which answers the question many of us who follow Jesus have asked:
 
Why is life so hard?
 
From financial setbacks, to bumps and detours on our career paths, to health issues that appear out of nowhere – life is not easy.
 
There’s a popular saying that goes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
 
On the other hand, the Bible says that despite our circumstances – despite those times when life gives us lemons – we’re supposed to experience joy.
 
A joy that even our deepest troubles cannot overcome.
 
When Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17, he prayed that we – his followers – will “have the full measure of my joy within them.”  John 17:13 NIV
 
In the preceding chapter of John, Jesus told His disciples, “You will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”  John 16:22 NIV
 
Jesus promised them joy that would withstand all they would later face.
 
By this stage of our lives, would you agree that we have all faced hardships.
 
Life is tough.
 
And I suspect many of us have had less than joyful responses. We shrugged and told ourselves – oh well, it can’t be helped.
 
So, how was Jesus’ disciples (other than the Apostle John) able to face their martyrs’ death with joy?
 
How can we feel joyful when bad stuff happens to us?
 
The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8 how we are supposed to live in a suffering broken world.
 
In Romans 8:28–30, Paul offers the way to finding joy in suffering.
 
He tells us that when we follow Christ, three things will happen:
 
Our bad things will turn out for good. Our good things can never be lost. And our best things are yet to come.
 
These are the reasons for our joy.
 
Our Bad Things Turn Out for Good
 
“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 NIV
 
This verse is saying that all things – good things as well as bad – happen to Christians.
 
Many Christians believe that if we love and serve God, we will experience fewer bad things than non-believers.
 
That’s not true!
 
This verse does not say God will make all things good for us.
 
It says God works all things for the good of those who love Him.
 
This verse is also saying that when things work together in our lives, it’s because of God.
 
Remember what James, the brother of Jesus, wrote.
 
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  James 1:17 NIV
 
This verse does not promise that we will have lives filled with good circumstances.
 
The promise is not that the bad things really aren’t bad; they’re really good things.
 
Rather, it acknowledges that bad things will happen, but that God will take those bad things, and work them for good.
 
What about those times when God didn’t provide what we asked for – things that we thought were good – and things turned out poorly?
 
Perhaps God felt they would only be good in the short term.
 
I vividly remember the first mission trip we took to the Japan tsunami area. We provided food and staples to many survivors.
 
My personal goal was to find a church to partner with.
 
Can you imagine the excitement we felt when we found a church that wanted help?
 
But when we returned five months later on our second mission with a team of musicians and hula dancers, that church turned us away saying they were not interested in partnering with us.
 
It was heartbreaking. Five months of dreams disappeared in an instant.
 
A few days later we were invited to perform at another church near Sendai.
 
Because the evening ended too late to drive back to our home base, we slept in the church.
 
Early the next morning, as I met with the Senior Pastor’s son to thank him, God revealed how He works for the good.
 
The young pastor had recently returned from six years of seminary and a master’s program in the states. He spoke perfect English.
 
And there was something in his office that confirmed this was where God wanted us.
 
Behind his desk on the bookshelf were several of Pastor Wayne’s books. Like many of us, he was an admirer of Pastor Wayne!
 
The rest is history. We sent over a dozen teams over the next few years to serve with that church.
 
What seemed like a bad thing, God turned into something that was beyond good.
 
Our Good Things Can Never Be Lost
 
There are many who find comfort in Romans 8:28 – that in times when bad things happen, they feel good things will happen.
 
It’s almost as if people want an IOU from God: Okay God, I took the bad stuff – now give me something good…
 
That’s not the promise.
 
God does not promise better life circumstances to those who love Him.
 
He promises us a better life.
 
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:29 NIV
 
Our happiness depends on our circumstances.
 
Here, we’re talking about joy – joy that overcomes our circumstances.
 
Jesus Christ did not suffer so that we would not suffer.
 
He suffered so that when we suffer, we will become like Him.
 
The Gospel does not promise us better life circumstances; it promises us a better life.
 
Romans 8:29 tells us the goal of all our circumstances.
 
Paul uses this word – predestined. God’s promises us an absolutely fixed destiny.
 
What is our destiny?
 
That we will be conformed to the image of Christ.
 
God promises to change our inner self into the inner self of Jesus Christ.
 
The good that God is moving us toward – through all that happens in our lives – good and bad – is our transformation into the nature of Christ.
 
Everything that happens in our lives will mold us, shape us, sculpt us, and polish us into the image of His Son.
 
He is making us to be like Jesus. To have all the attributes we see in Christ.
 
“And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”  Romans 8:30 NIV
 
Did you notice that ‘glorified’ is past tense.
 
Paul is so certain that we will be like our Lord Jesus, He says it’s a done deal!
 
Being completely conformed to the likeness of God’s Son is something we look forward to in the future.
 
And we can rest assured that the transformation is gradually happening right now.
 
That God is using bad circumstances to further shape us.
 
The Best Things Are Yet to Come
 
When we fully understand and believe what is to come, we can handle anything here in this life on earth.
 
Paul is not promising us better life circumstances; he is promising us something greater – a far better life.
 
He’s promising us a life of unending joy.
 
A life of peace and no sin.
 
A life of humility in the presence of the One who gave His all for us.
 
A life that goes on forever.
 
Yes, life is hard. But knowing what we now know makes life so much easier.
 
In love always,