My husband and I were married on a very snowy day in January (in Canada).  So snowy, in fact, that 36 guests were unable to make it to our wedding.  Roads were closed, flights were cancelled-it was a traveling nightmare.

Well we got married anyway and had a great time at our reception.

One thing that I will never forget about that day was the wedding verse we chose.

Romans 8:28.

My husband’s grandfather gave the message, and he talked about how this verse wasn’t  the typical choice for weddings.  He kindly pointed out that most people choose it for funerals.

I wish I could tell you that in our 22 year old wisdom, my future husband and I had intentionally picked that verse to show our understanding that life ahead was going to be rocky.

We weren’t that wise.

And if you had asked the 22 year old me what I thought that verse meant, I probably would have told you that if we love God, things will have a way of working it out in the end.  Everyone gets their happily ever after.

What the last almost 16 years have taught me is that my version of happily ever after and God’s version are two different things.

In my standards-I have known a lot of people who are not currently living the typical happily ever after.  Lives marked by suicide, death of a child, death of a spouse, illness…the list goes on.

So how can I claim this promise knowing that there is so much pain?

What if when Paul wrote “God works for the good” he meant something different than -things will all work out for YOUR happily ever after? What if we’re looking at this the wrong way.

Jesus did say we would have trouble.

If you have children or have been around children near a major holiday-you may have seen the meltdowns that come with waiting for the big meal.  Kids get hungry and they want a snack.  But the beginning of  feast is five minutes away so mom says no.  And that can be the most horrible answer for a child because she is hungry NOW.

Sometimes we are that child.  I get my nose bent out of shape because I want something that I think is good-when God has a feast planned.  I may get to that feast in this life or I may have to wait for heaven-but make no mistake-it is better than anything I cod ask for or imagine.

I have to trust that God has a better plan. And that the trials of this life are preparing me for God’s version of good.

And I need to let go of my expectation of what good looks like in this life and embrace where God has me now so that I may fulfill the purpose that he has for me.