We Need It All (The Good Life)

Last week I visited a friend who has a terminal illness and was given six months to live a couple of months ago. I got news from a another friend whose child is in the hospital in another state after very serious surgery - separated by hundreds of miles from the rest of their family. I heard from another friend who is fighting for his life. I know of another person who was just terminated from his job and another who just lost her mother.

I read the news and I see our country is in a royal mess financially with a political system that appears to be broken - in that a course of action cannot be agreed upon.

I could go on and on... and so can you.

And we’re talking about the good life? Exactly where is the good life in all that?

And then I read a line from an email from another friend: “You cannot have a good life if you are not willing to have a tough day.”

My friend is right.

We would never know what joy is if we never experienced heartache. We would not know how great laughter is if we never cried. We would never know what it is like to feel great if we never felt awful. We would never know what hope is if we never felt hopeless. We would never understand freedom unless we understand bondage. We would not know what it is like to be well if we were never sick.

And we would never know how precious life is if we never experienced death.

I am absolutely certain that “the good life” is not a life filled only with good days but a life filled with good and bad days.

So many “good” things happen during the bad days. Sometimes we have to get past the bad times and look back to see the good but I am convinced we will find it if we look.

God speaks this truth on a regular basis. We have daytime. We have night. We have sunshine. We have rain.

To survive and thrive, we need it all.

We’re talking about the good life.