The psalmist says, "It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees" (Psalm 119:71). The Lord God is good—He is good all the time. As C.S. Lewis wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains."
How can we celebrate the goodness of the Lord in the midst of suffering? When we are tempted, when we fall, when we are broken, when we are distressed, when we have nothing but empty hands, when we are running out of breath, when we are on our deathbed counting the remaining days, when our loved ones are sick—how can we still praise and thank God?
We live in a world where comfort often becomes our god. Many believe that if they are comfortable and at peace, they must be living their best life—that obedience to God brings blessings, and blessings equate to comfort. But if God only rewarded goodness with blessings and punished wrongdoing with suffering, who among us would be worthy of His grace? God is always good, even when we are not. He does not bless us because we are worthy and deserving, but because He is so good and kind.
Take Job, for example, or even Jesus Himself. Did Jesus not live a righteous life? Yet He was still crucified on the cross because it was the will of the Father. We often seek God's will not because we desire intimacy with Him, but because we want to know what we will receive when we obey. We look for the brighter side—the blessings and the comfort. Yet Jesus obeyed the Father's will even when it led to His suffering and death. If we truly desire to know God's will, are we ready to follow it, even if it means hardship?
God has a wonderful plan for your life—not one of mere ease, but one that leads you through both trials and triumphs, shaping you into the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). Life in Jesus is not centered on comfort, ease, or worldly happiness. Instead, He offers something far greater—to make us humble like Christ. God's will is not about material possessions; it is about our growth in Christlikeness. His desire is for us to be both holy and truly joyful in Jesus.
For so long, I thought discovering God's will was like solving a maze—something to be found only after great effort, rituals, and intense prayers. But the truth is simple: Be holy like Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, for the glory of God. Living a Christlike life is hard work, and following Jesus is not always clear in every situation. Whether you are a street sweeper, a single parent, married, widowed, a student, a businessperson, a writer, or a painter—whatever you do, in every little thing, you are called to reflect Christ.
To know the love of God as a Father and to obey Him as a servant obeys his master; as Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). It is not I, but Christ in me.
God's will is not hidden; it is revealed in our pursuit of holiness, in our willingness to be transformed, and in our trust that His plan—though it may lead through suffering—is always good.
