It’s Not Over Till It’s Over by Debra Snyder
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 NASB
I couldn’t breathe, it was like someone had just sucked all the air from my lungs. My husband had just come home from work and told me that he wanted a divorce. My head was spinning. I couldn’t process what had just been said to me. He wants what? Why? I can’t have heard him right. He went on to say he wasn’t happy and that he wanted to move on and be happy. He said he wasn’t in love with me anymore. Deep in my heart, I knew it was because he wanted to be with the woman he called his best friend. No working it out, no trying to come together, just done. My mind now began trying to process how I would put my life back together and go on. I felt like everything was over.
Have you ever been at a place like that in your life? One where you felt like it was over, done, and nothing good would ever come from it, you would never be whole and happy again? I can relate to that feeling and what I want you to know as you are reading this, is that it will get better. Things do work together for good. God hasn’t left you, He has been with you, walking beside you, and leading your life in the path He needs it to go. How can I know this you may ask? It’s because He walked alongside me during this dark period of my life. He caused things to work together for my good, though at the time I didn’t know it or realize that fact. Through our pain and tragedies, He is right there with us, comforting and working things out to help us grow, learn, and get closer to Him and others.
Fast-forward a year after my divorce. I had been trying, (mostly unsuccessfully) to find a good Christian man that I could date. I had been on Christian dating sites, with discouraging results and was getting close to the point of giving up. That’s when God stepped in and started working things together, bringing me and my future husband together. I met a wonderful man who was a widower with three young children. The only problem was he lived in Nebraska and I lived in Massachusetts. I was certain that God would have him move to me since I had a townhouse and all my family was there. But as time went on, He showed me that no, I must be the one to move and start my life over in a new place. The problem was, I didn’t know how I was going to get my townhouse sold and everything worked out in time. Anxiety and panic started to set in and then one day I heard a voice in my head saying “all things work together for good”. Now I had stopped going to church for years and had only started going back after my life came apart. I knew this was a Bible verse, so I ran to get my Bible and searched the index to find the verse. After I found it in Romans 8, I had some peace and I knew from that moment on things would work out and everything would be okay. We got engaged, and my townhouse sold when I needed to. We got married and I packed up my whole life and moved to Nebraska to start the new one that God had worked out for me.
When I look back over things, I can see His hand in it and how He made something good come from something that was devastating. So even when we think it’s over, God says to us “It’s not over till I say it’s over and done. Trust in Me and I will make things work together for you.” So dear friend, as you read this and may be going through your own devastating time, feeling like it’s over, know that it isn’t and the One who loves you more than anyone in this world has your best interest at heart. He hasn’t stopped working for your good. Put your trust in Him, and let Him take control. You will never be sorry or regret letting God work your bad into good. I am living proof that He does what He says He will and never leaves you alone.