In It

In chapel today I was thinking of a common phrase we (Christians) say when life gets hard: "God is good despite _____." Despite my problems, despite my circumstances, God is good.
It seems in my heart that that is not enough. I no longer think I could look in the face of a holy God and say "despite my heartbreak, You're still good."
Something about that seems insulting. Like we are robbing Him of due glory.

Despite my cancer.
Despite his affair.
Despite the financial situation.

We are trying to separate God from the bad things. Like He has nothing to do with them. Certainly, He does not cause these things, but we know He must allow them. His sovereignty does not allow for anything to creep in our lives unnoticed. And we know that He can and does use all things for His glory and our good (Gen. 50:20). Can we really separate anything in our lives from God? Isn't that what we are doing with that statement? We are trying to make God's greatness independent of circumstance. Which in one sense is true- regardless of the way things look, He is still good. But when speaking to God about His presence in our lives, we cannot separate Him from any circumstance like He has nothing to do with or about it.

What if instead of saying "God, even though I am faced with this situation, You are good," we said "God, You are exhibiting your greatness in this situation."?

God, You are good IN my heartbreak.
You are good IN my cancer.
You are good IN this death.

He is working all things for good (Rom. 8:28). Not just the good things. He is also working the bad things for His glory and our good. He deserves that credit. Let's not rob Him of it.

You are not good despite it.
You are good IN it.