the good God has in mind

I've been reading another excellent book called Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges. Here are a few things that have encouraged me and I hope that they encourage you!

This first passage is expounding on the very familiar passage of Romans 8:28, but in a little different light that I had thought about it before.

"Just as our physical muscles will not grow in strength without exercise, so our spiritual life will not grow apart from circumstances that challenge us...If we easily become anxious (that's me!), there will be ample opportunities to deal with the sin of anxiety.  God does not tempt us to sin, but He does bring or allow circumstances to come into our lives that give us opportunity to put to death the particular subtle sins that are characteristic of our individual lives.  It is obvious that we can deal with the activity of our subtle sins only as the circumstances we encounter expose them."

"...the truth I want us to see now is that God is in control of every circumstance and every even in our lives, and He uses them, often in some mysterious way, to change us more into the likeness of Christ."

"Romans 8:28 is a text many of us go to for encouragement in tough times. 'We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.' However, while that passage is indeed one of all-around encouragement to us, Paul is actually talking about our spiritual transformation. The 'good' of verse 28 is explained in verse 29 to be the conformity to the image of God's son This means, then, that the Holy Spirit is at work in use through our circumstances to make us more like Christ."

I think prior to reading this I had thought of this verse in a much more temporal light. The "good" being  actually the outcome of a situation. Does that make sense? God does redeem difficult situations and will make something beautiful from them, but the good he ultimately has in mind in this verse is my sanctification. He's working all of my life's situations for that good end.