Seeing the Good

Sin. It’s ugly.

Actually, that’s not completely true. A lot of sin is not ugly. It’s enticing. It’s fun. Sin itself can be downright attractive because the devil is a deceiver.

The results of sin, however, are ugly, and this world can be a whole mess of ugly. Why? That’s a question both the faithful and the faithless repeatedly ask. Why? God is good. God is love. God is beauty. Why is the world so ugly?

The simple answer is because sin is in our world.

Even with that to-the-point answer, do you still question why? I do. I struggle often with this dilemma. I don’t dare try to explain or delve into the deep theology of sin and why bad things happen when God is good; I can’t completely answer the why. But I have a good idea about the how. How do we navigate this ugly world without giving in to despair?

The simple and complex answer is the same: faith.

It can be so easy to focus solely on the bad. Social media allows us a glimpse into the lives of people all over the globe. While this can be extremely positive­—connecting with old friends, seeing sights you may never visit in person, getting to know people from all walks of life—it can also be negative. Sometimes it seems as if everything people share online is negative—tragedies, hateful gossip, mean words. And with the availability of news twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, we can become inundated with reports of terrible events. However, if we focus only on the bad, if we never look for the good, and if we don’t look for the Lord, we are sunk.

I have felt that sinking feeling and let it overwhelm me. I took my eyes off the Lord and put my focus on all the bad. I let my screen become my window into the “real” world. I was spending way too much time on social media and I felt I couldn’t escape the negativity that filled my newsfeed. I felt as though everything was bad and there was no hope.

The Bible says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15 NIV). But that is not what I was doing. I was internalizing it all and focusing on worst-case scenarios. I wanted to plan—to control—everything to keep the bad away, but all that did was make me a quivering, anxious mess.

Then one day I read Psalm 27:13. “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (NIV). This verse helped me begin to adjust my focus where it should be. I can’t let myself dwell on the bad; I need to make my real life my window to the world. Most importantly, I need to focus on the Lord and see the good in this world. I can also make sure I’m a part of the good.

I need to put my faith in action. I want to fully live out Romans 12:15. In fact, I should live out all of Romans 12 because it reads like an instruction manual on how a Christian should live. Live for the Lord, do not conform to this world, love one another, minister to others, hate evil, and overcome evil with good are a few of the guidelines in this chapter.

I want to encourage you today. If you are feeling like I was, look for the good. Let this Easter season of hope surround you. God sent his Son to save the whole world. Rejoice in that fact and allow the beauty of the resurrection to be the filter through which you view the world.

Dana Herndon is a writer and blogger as well as an elementary and middle school teacher. She and her husband live in Georgia with their three children. In addition to teaching and writing, Dana loves to read, watch Food Network and HGTV, follow politics, and paddleboard. She blogs at danaherndon.com.

Photograph © Bethany Beams, used with permission