God's Not Wasting Any of It

Nothing you have been through is wasted. Not one thing.

In this episode, we're sitting with Romans 8:28 and getting honest about how that verse is actually misused. Because God working all things together for good is not the same as saying all things are good. Cancer is not good. Betrayal is not good. A season falling apart when you did everything right is not good.

But God is so redemptive that He can take the very thing that was meant to break you and work it into something you won't be able to believe when you finally see it.

We're also talking about what it looks like to see your life from beneath a sew-in, and why the chaos you're staring at right now isn't random. Every thread has a purpose.

This one is for the woman who is still in it and wondering if God even sees her.

He's not scrambling. He's working.

Girl, Pick Up is a podcast by EmpowerHER Spirit, created for the woman who's ready to answer the call — on faith, purpose, and the real conversations nobody else is having.

New episodes dropping. Don't miss one — subscribe wherever you listen.

EmpowerHER Spirit Resources — linktree.com/empowerherspirit

📲 Find us on Instagram — @EmpowerHER.Spirit

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hey girl. Hey hey, it's me, and I've been sitting on something, and I genuinely could not wait to share it. So, girl, I had to call you because I keep thinking about the women who are listening to this who are in the middle of something so hard right now, something that doesn't make sense, something they didn't see coming, something they've been praying about for a long time, and God still hasn't moved the way they expected him to. And I just need you to know nothing that you have been through is wasted, not one thing. Stay with me today. We're going there, girl. Pick up. Hey girl. Hey girl, what's up? Hey girl. Hey girl, what's up? Oh, that's the word. Okay, so I think one of the most honest questions you can ask when you're in the middle of something hard is God, are you even in this? Do you see what's happening? Is any of this actually going somewhere? And I think that question is more common than we admit because most of us are not walking around in constant doubt. We believe in God, but there are seasons where the silence feels so loud and the waiting feels like it's going on too long, and you start to wonder if somehow you fell off of his radar. The word has something to say about that, and truly, I do feel like this verse is one of the most misunderstood verses in the entire Bible. So I need you to stay with me on this one. Romans 8 and 28 says, and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Now, I need us to stop right here because this verse gets used all the time in a way that I actually think can hurt people when they're going through something real. Someone loses a job, a relationship ends, a dream falls apart, and somebody with the best intentions in the world hits them with everything happens for a reason. It's all a part of God's plan. And we know that they mean well. I mean, I know they mean well, truly. But that framing makes it seem like what happened was good, like God planned for the pain and the hard thing was supposed to happen. And that's not what this verse is saying. Cancer is not good, abuse, betrayal, losing someone that you love is not good. A season of your life falling apart when you did everything right, it's not good. And so Paul is not saying that all things are good, he is saying God works all things together for good, and there's a significant difference between those two statements. God is so creative and powerful and redemptive that He can take the worst thing that has ever been used against you, the very thing that the enemy is intending to break you with and work it into something good. He doesn't waste a single piece of what you go through, not one thing, y'all. And I really want us to sit in that today because I think it changes how you see everything that you're walking through. So let me give you a picture of this, all my girly girls. Have you ever looked underneath a sew-in? Like, not the finished product. I'm talking if you actually lift up the hair and look at what's happening underneath, it's truly a mess, especially when it's not fresh. The threads are going in every direction. You have braids criss-crossing over each other. It's truly so chaotic underneath there, and very random sometimes. And if you've ever if you've never seen a sewing before, and someone just showed you the underside, you would have no idea that anything beautiful was being made. You would just think, um, what is all of this? But then you look at it from the bird's eye view, and you look at it from the front of the person, and it's laid, it's gorgeous, everything is flowing exactly the way that it's supposed to. And here's what I need us to understand all of that chaos underneath is the exact thing that created the beauty that you see on the outside. Every thread had a purpose, every braid had a place, none of it was random. The mess was building the masterpiece the whole time. I mean, even the best hairstylists have a method to their braiding madness, and that is what God is doing in your life right now. Some of us are looking at our situations from underneath. We see the threads that don't make sense, we see the chaos, we see the parts that we didn't ask for, and the things that didn't work out, and the plans that fell apart. And from where we're standing, it just looks like a complete mess. But y'all, God sees the front, he sees the whole picture, and he sees how it ends. He's actively right now in real time working every single thread into something that you are not going to be able to believe when you finally see it. He's not scrambling or surprised by anything that you're walking through, girl. And he is definitely not up there trying to figure out how to make something good of your mess. He already knows, he already sees it, and he is working. Now I want to talk about something because I think this is where we get tripped up. When we hear God works all things together for good, we assume that we know what the good is gonna look like. The good might look like the trial ending or things going back to the way they were, or that you're gonna get relief and you're gonna get it soon. And then when that doesn't happen and we're still in it, and the prayers still haven't been answered the way that we need it, it starts to feel like is God even working at all? But here's what I've been learning: God's definition of good is a whole lot bigger than ours. Sometimes his good is your character being shaped in a way that no comfortable season could have ever shaped it. Because we don't grow when everything is easy, we just get comfortable and manage and end up relying on ourselves. But when things get hard and you have no choice but to hold on to him, that's when you find out what your faith is actually made of, and that's when it gets deeper than it's ever been before. Sometimes his good is a redirection that you didn't ask for. A door closes and it devastates you. You sure that was the one, the job, the relationship, the opportunity, whatever it is, and then it didn't work out, and then two or three years later, you're standing somewhere you never could have imagined, and you look back at that closed door and think, Oh, that had to close so I could get here. And sometimes, and this is the one that really gets me. God is using what you survive to prepare you to sit with somebody else who is in it right now. Your testimony becomes someone else's proof that they can make it, and the thing that you went through becomes a thing that helps them hold on, and that's good, and that is God working all things together. His good may not always be immediate. Sometimes it takes years before you can see it clearly, but his promise never expires. He is not going to waste a single thing that you go through, not one thing. And so there's one more thing in this verse that I don't want us to skip over. Romans 8 28 ends with for those who love him who have been called according to his purpose. This is not a promise that applies to everyone automatically, it's a covenant promise. It's specifically for the woman who loves God and is walking in his purpose, even when it's hard, even when she don't feel like it, and when the worship feels dry and the prayer feels like it's just hitting the ceiling, and you're just showing up just because you made the decision to trust him, and you're going to stand on that decision, even when every feeling that you have is telling you otherwise. It's for that woman. This promise belongs to her. And so, if that's you today, if you are in something hard right now and you're still choosing him, still showing up, still holding on, even if it's not easy, this promise is yours, girl. He is working it together. Every thread, every broken thing, every season that didn't go the way you planned, he didn't forget about you, and he's not done. Not one thing is wasted. And so here's what I want you to do with this information. Think of one hard thing that you've already been through, not something that you're in right now, something that you've already come on the other side of. And sit with this question, honestly. What did God produce through that that could not have come any other way? A strength that you didn't know you had until you needed it. Maybe it's a friendship that came straight out of a shared struggle or a closed door that needed to close so that you could walk through the right one. Something that broke in you that needed to go so something better could grow in its place. I want you to find it, write it down, and let that become your evidence. Because the next time that you're in the middle of something that doesn't make sense yet, and there is going to be a next time, girl, you are going to need something solid to stand on. And that evidence, your own testimony of what God did before, is one of the most powerful things that you have. Because if he did it before, he will do it again. He is not wasting any of it. And if you want to go deeper, the His Masterpiece devotional is on Amazon. The link is in the show notes. And of course, before I let you go, I want to pray over you. Father, I thank you for the woman on the other end of this. I thank you that you see every hard season she has walked through, every closed door, every broken plan, every moment she held on, even when she was exhausted, and it would have been so much easier to just let go. God, give her eyes to see what you were doing in the middle of it. Help her trust that you are not wasting a single thread, that the chaos she's been staring at is creating the beauty she is about to walk into. And for the woman who is still in it right now, the one who cannot see the front of the soul in just quite yet, Lord, remind her that you see it, that you are working through it, Lord God, and that your definition of good is so much bigger and better than anything she could have written for herself. Help her to hold on, remind her that she has not been forgotten and that none of this, not one thing, is wasted. In Jesus' name. Amen. Also, girl, our next Bible study group just kicked off, and it's not too late to join. The link is in the show notes. And if this one hit you, come find me on Instagram at empowerher.spirit. I read every message and I want to hear what God is doing in your life. I'll talk to you next week. Girl, pick up.