As we start the new year, it might be an exciting time for you to look forward to all the new goals, projects, and experiences you expect to have this year. For many people, though, it’s a depressing time as they wonder why they’re not as far along in life as they thought they would be a year ago.
They’re saying to themselves, “I thought I would have graduated by now,” or “I thought I would be married by now.” “I thought I would have my credit cards paid off right now … be promoted at work by now … have a house by now … be over this injury by now … be reconciled with my dad by now.”
Right now, some people are feeling like God’s failed them.
But, as John Piper said, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” He lists all the ways God might be working behind the scenes:
- You may find yourself in prison, and God may be advancing the gospel among the guards, and making the free brothers bold. (Philippians 1:12–14)
- You may find yourself with a painful thorn, and God may be making the power of Christ more beautiful in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:8)
- You may find yourself with a dead brother that Jesus could have healed, and God may be preparing to show his glory. (John 11)
- You may find yourself sold into slavery, accused falsely of sexual abuse, and forgotten in a prison cell, and God may be preparing you to rule a nation. (Genesis 37-50)
- You may wonder why a loved one is left in unbelief so long, and find that God is preparing a picture of his patience and a powerful missionary. (Galatians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:12-16)
- You may live in all purity and humility and truth only to end rejected and killed, and God may be making a parable of his Son and an extension of his merciful sufferings in yours. (Isaiah 53:3; Mark 8:31; Colossians 1:24)
- You may walk through famine, be driven from your homeland, lose husband and sons, and be left desolate with one foreign daughter-in-law, and God may be making you an ancestor of a king. (Ruth 1–4)
- You may find the best counselor you’ve ever known giving foolish advice, and God may be preparing the destruction of your enemy. (2 Samuel 17:14)
- You may be a sexually pure single person and yet accused of immorality, and God may be preparing you as a virgin blessing in ways no one can dream. (Luke 1:35)
- You may not be able to sleep and look in a random book, and God may be preparing to shame your arrogant enemy and rescue a condemned people. (Esther 6:1–11)
- You may be shamed and hurt, and God may be confirming your standing as his child and purifying you for the highest inheritance. (Hebrews 12:5–11)
After Joseph was attacked and sold off by his brothers, he said to them, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen 50:20). What kind of good is God accomplishing in your life today?