The Vessel Collection

Wrestling with God’s goodness in the middle of suffering.

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.” – Job 1:21
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” – Genesis 50:20
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God…” – Romans 8:28

I have been stuck in the weeds of these verses more times than I can count. They’ve been the lifeline and the wrestle. The comfort and the confrontation.

I’ll sit with, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away,” and whisper back, “Yes, Lord, You give. And You take. And some days I can barely breathe from all the taking.”

Then I get in an argument with Satan (am I the only one?), “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good,” and my mind starts pacing. Okay Lord, I trust You. I do. I know You are a God who redeems broken stories. But when the pain feels relentless, when the cost is so high, how am I supposed to be okay with this kind of “good”?

And then there’s the “kick me while Im down verse that everyone says to claim when we’re bleeding—“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God…”
I have cried this some many times from the bathroom floor. “I do love You. I have given You everything. But what in the world are You doing with my life?”

That’s been the honest cry of my heart. Not a lack of faith. Just the kind of surrender that shows up with tear-streaked cheeks and hands lifted anyway.

“…to them who are the called according to His purpose.” – Romans 8:28
“…what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” – Genesis 50:20
“…may the name of the Lord be praised.” – Job 1:21

But thank God the Scripture doesn’t leave us hanging. It goes on to say, “to them who are the called according to His purpose.”
That matters.
Because I know I am walking in what He has called me to. I may not always walk it perfectly, but I haven’t fled. I’ve stayed. I’ve trusted. I’ve stepped forward even when it would’ve been easier to stay hidden. I’ve said yes when my flesh screamed no.

And then we’re reminded again—what was intended for harm, God is using for the saving of many lives. That wrecks me. Because I look at the things I never asked for—cancer, heartbreak, diagnosis, loss—and I realize God is using the very thing I begged Him to take away.
And somehow, it’s helping someone else breathe a little deeper. Trust a little more. Believe again.

A vessel doesn’t just sit in the molding and firing of the initial parts of those verses. It then begins to thrive and be used through the ending of those Scriptures. The author of each of these verses was in the thick of suffering. Job. Joseph. Paul writing to the Roman church. Not one of them was on the other side of comfort when they penned these words. They were in it. And yet, we can look at each of their lives and see that what was meant for harm was used for good. The longer they walked through the firing of their vessel, the more they began to believe and trust God’s faithfulness in saying, “I will work all this for your good and for My glory.”

Prayer

So yes, Lord, may Your name be praised. Not just when the giving feels good. Not just when the story wraps up with a happy ending.
But right in the middle. Right in the confusion. Right in the “what in the world are You doing?” moments.

Take my pride, take my need to control, take my version of how this should have gone.
Just don’t take Your presence.
Because if You are with me, then I’ll keep walking. And I’ll keep speaking. And I’ll keep trusting.
May Your name always be the loudest thing on my lips.