For My Good
- Morgan Benner
- Mar 28
- 5 min read
I remember the sting of sadness and offense I felt when the lady across the table from me said, “Well, we know that God works all things out for the good of those who love Him.” At the time, I didn’t even know she was quoting the Bible. I just knew I had been radically changed by encountering Jesus three months earlier, after attending church the Sunday after my stepmom’s funeral. That experience led me to this women’s small group.
My “MomJo” had battled breast cancer, and when it returned, it took her life in less than a month. I couldn’t understand how anything good could come from the pain I experienced. But as each day passed, I saw God healing my grief, hurt, and shame from my past once I said “yes” to following Jesus.
It’s been seven years since that conversation, and I’ve come to realize that even though my well-intentioned sister in Christ didn’t have the best timing, she spoke God’s Word to me—and that Word is always true, no matter how I feel in the moment. As I’ve studied the Bible these last several years and grown as a student of it, I’ve learned two important truths.
1) God’s plan for my life is good.
Growing up in a broken home, exposed to family members’ addictions, and caught in a destructive cycle of people-pleasing at all costs, it was hard for me to believe anything in my life could be classified as good. When my dad married MaryJo in 2011, it was one of the best things that had happened to our family in a long time.
When we lost her seven years later, my dad, siblings, and I were devastated.
But understanding God’s sovereignty is sometimes like seeing with 20/20 hindsight. When we met with the hospice team, the nurses asked about our goals for getting her home. MaryJo told them, “I’m not going home. I’m going to be with Jesus.”
All my life, I had heard people talk about going to a place—Heaven—but never to a person. That statement planted a seed. Seven days later, when she went to be with Him, I felt drawn to visit my aunt’s church.
At the time, I didn’t know why all of this was happening—but God did. My story has unfolded differently from my family members’, but for me, that church is where I met my husband, who is now the father of our three-year-old daughter. The knowledge I gained from MaryJo’s battle led us to create dozens of care packages for people going through chemo. I lead a small group where I can empathize with friends who have lost parents. I watched my dad give his life to Jesus and remarry a wonderful, kind, and gentle woman—whom he also met at church!
When we look at our pain and suffering and “count it all joy” (James 1), we begin to see how, when surrendered to God, He can use it to bless others. Second Corinthians 1:4 says, “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
As God continued to heal me, I kept seeing this truth unfold in my life in so many ways.
2) God’s purpose for my life is to look like Jesus.
As I began reading the Bible for myself, I perked up when I came across the familiar verse: “God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). But reading it in context changed everything. The next verse, Romans 8:29, says, “For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
You don’t see that cross-stitched on pillows too often, do you?
That’s when it hit me: when I look at everything in my life, I see how God has been using it to make me look more like Jesus. And what does Jesus look like? We know that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:25). Sometimes, our definition of “good” doesn’t match God’s definition. But when we release our white-knuckled grip on what we think life should look like, we can trust that our Father knows what’s best for us.
Our world needs hope, and it needs Jesus. When we open our hearts to God, release our plans into His hands, and trust His goodness even in pain, He will use our stories to bring hope to others walking through similar struggles.
FOR FURTHER THOUGHT:
Let’s not think about all things right now—just one thing. The thing that makes you choke up when you think about it. The thing that maybe only you know about. The thing that popped into your mind as you read this. Ask God to help you hand it over to Him and trust that He will show you how He can use it for good.
PRAYER:
God, I know that believing the hardest things in life can be good feels impossible at times. Help me have grace for myself when I need time to heal. If I can offer hope to someone, give me boldness to do it. If I need to grow to look more like Jesus, help me submit to Your Spirit instead of striving in my own efforts. Most of all, help me want more of You. Amen.
ABOUT MORGAN BENNER
Morgan Benner is a woman transformed by faith, and if you had met her in the first 27 years of her life, you might not recognize her today. Jesus completely changed her, making her not just a different person but a new one. She now enjoys life with her best friend and husband, Derek, and their sweet three-year-old daughter, continually experiencing God’s love and growing in faith through her family. A creative at heart, Morgan uses her gifts to serve at her church—whether through video announcements, social media, small group leadership, or welcoming others into an encounter with Jesus. Professionally, she works as a Talent Acquisition Manager for a Fortune 500 company, a role that reflects her deep love for people. Known for meeting others right where they are, she is passionate about sharing the good news of the One who changed her life.
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Morgan, you are truly a servant of God and I can tell you from experience God does work everything out for good in His timing.