Until the Bad is Gone

I have been thinking about what to write about this month, and the topic came to me after speaking with a student this past week. We were talking about how she has gone through so much in her short life, and has spent some time in foster homes, and she said something I thought was pretty profound for a 13 year old. She said, "I don't see the good until the bad is gone."

I immediately wrote that down on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget it. "Is the bad ever gone?" I thought. I decided I must think about this some more and put the piece of paper aside for the day.

There are bad things happening to lots of people every day, and the world will never be rid of the bad. Narrowing that down, I don't believe the bad is ever totally gone from a person's life.  If her statement is true, then the first part must also be true for her. She doesn't see the good.

Is she expressing a feeling that many abused people have but keep it supressed, and then never fully believes that life will be good?  I admit that what I have gone through in my own life has often caused me to feel like people don't really like me, and no one wants to really be my friend.  I know though, that even though the bad is still there, I can see good in my life and in the lives of others. This is because of my faith in God and His ability to trump all the bad in the world.

If a person doesn't have faith, it would be very easy to never see the good.  We can't allow ourselves to "never see the good."  No one has control over all the bad being done, except God. He wouldn't want anyone to live feeling like they can never see the good.  God IS good, and He wants everyone to SEE Him.