All Things Good

Romans 8:28, we all know that one: all things work for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.

Sometimes that word "all" really gets on my nerves. I mean, really Lord, this is working to my good?

Today was one of those days. We decided to go to a market in downtown Dakar. From the minute we got out of the taxi, we were followed relentlessly. We used all of the usual tactics, and resorted to baay ma (leave me alone, which is not really that nice). Then we were called racist because we didn't want to talk to random stalker man. As if that weren't enough, another man told us that we weren't racist and tried to comfort us. That was fine, but then HE turned into a stalker. To get away, we ducked into a restaurant, and he just stood outside staring us down, for a solid ten minutes. We waited til he got distracted and left as quickly as possible in the opposite direction. Throughout our walk through the market we could barely focus on what we'd wanted because people were all over us. We finally found some side streets that were pretty calm, and I managed to bargain pretty well for a bag for my sister (Jess, this was a rough one, so even if you don't like it, pretend you do ok?). We got a little lost but ended up exactly where we wanted to be - N'Ice Cream. I felt I had more than earned that cappuccino milkshake. But it wasn't over yet. We still had to get home. I approached a taxi and asked how much and he said 3,000CFA. I said 1,000. He countered with 2,500. I came back with 1500. He said 2,000. I held at 1500. And then he finally dropped to 1800, but as the five of us started to get in, he said only 4 people could come, so we let him go. We found a few more taxis, but couldn't get it lower than 2500 for the five of us, and we eventually just gave in, as we were already exhausted.

When I got back home, I asked the Lord what on earth I was supposed to learn. "I make all things good," He said. A few years ago, I read Josh McDowell's book, Beyond Belief to Conviction, and in it he talked about why it was called Good Friday if it's the day we remember Jesus' death. His quote, "Because God has a habit of turning bad things good" has always stuck with me.

I realized that the very fact that it was a "bad" experience is what made it good. Jess will have this story to go along with her bag. I now have a memory of being frustrated, overwhelmed and cranky, and having God pull me out of it. We find the Lord in our most vulnerable states, when we are all too aware of how much we need Him.