And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
I recall a story I read somewhere about a man in a fancy European restaurant. The man was telling a story at his table and vividly waving his hands; a waiter walked by with a tray of coffee and the man knocked the coffee from the tray and it splattered on the nice white wall of the fancy restaurant. The man apologetically tried to clean the stain and pay for the damages; no matter how much he tried he could not make the stain disappear. It seemed like the stain would be a permanent ugly blemish on the wall. As the man and the staff of the restaurant fretted about what could be done a man stood from his seat, took out a permanent marker and began to turn the stain into a beautiful stag. The man was a famous illustrator of animal portraits in Europe at the time; he took a horrible mishap and made it a beautiful piece of art.
In life we have many mishaps; through selfishness and sin we can make a big ugly mess of things. Sometimes we may be able to apologize and clean up the situation, but all too often we create permanent stains. We start to lose hope and grumble in guilt and deep regret; we wish that we could take back our actions, but we cannot. The situation seems hopeless; the stain surely will always be there to haunt us. Perhaps you are already thinking about an ugly stain that you have caused and cannot get rid of; listen closely: if we are God’s then He will cause ALL THINGS to work together for good! Note that the verse does not say most things, or some things, or even all things that are not too big or too bad; it says all things. God in His infinite power, wisdom, and love will take any ugly stain that is surrendered to Him, and use it for His glory; He is indeed that good!
Will you continue to carry the guilt and shame that you deserve for your failures; allowing them to remain ugly and good for nothing? Or will you allow God to take those failures and turn them into beautiful and Godly works? How will He do it? I have the faintest idea, but I know that He will, because He said that He would; unlike us He always keeps His word!
