For the past several years, my mantra has been, “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.” This is what Paul wrote in Romans 8:28.

Every time I’m in an uncomfortable or annoying or tough situation, I try to let this verse play over and over in my head and parse through it.

• I know I love God, even if imperfectly.
• I know he has called me, this has been affirmed countless times.
• I know he has a purpose for me, even if I’m not always clear on what that is.

So, whatever is happening to or around me, my all-knowing, all-loving, always-perfect God intends it for my ultimate good. This is true even when I can’t see it.

What I experience as I let this one truth soak into my soul is less and less stress and anxiety.

Long ago I came to the awareness that nothing touches my life that doesn’t first pass through my heavenly Father’s hands, and that he will never let anything touch me that I can’t handle.

So, whatever touches me is all good. Eventually.

Knowing this, and experiencing it more and more, allows me to relax. I can walk calmly through whatever is thrown onto my life path and he will make sure it doesn’t destroy me.

And if it does? As Paul writes a little later in Romans, “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

It’s all good, either way.