“We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan” (Romans 8:28, The Voice).

The popular rendition of this verse is that in God all things work together for good. Note that it does not say that all things are good but that all things work for good.

In other words, it’s not all good.

All you have to do is watch the news, read the newspaper, or catch the headlines on any news website to know that. Creation is beautiful but broken, due to that original sin that messed everything up.

It’s not all good when racism still exists and people are looked down upon as being less than for skin color, ethnicity, or gender.

It’s not all good when schools aren’t a safe place to learn, as too many students have died from gun violence.

It’s not all good when parents bury their children, when women want desperately to have children but can’t, and when someone else gets a cancer diagnosis.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not “I’m okay, you’re okay.” It’s not an “It’s all good.”

The gospel of Jesus Christ says that God can take anything, even the worst kinds of evil, and work it into something good and beautiful.

The gospel says that one day, all will be made right and there will be no more pain or tears.

So no, it’s not currently all good, but the cross proves that God can take even the very worst and redeem it.

That’s all good.