With so much that is so wrong with the world, many are understandably wondering how it will all end. As for me, despite all the genuine horror of the war in Ukraine, the terror currently being inflicted in the Middle East and the violence that increasingly exists on our own streets, I remain convinced that, in the end, all will be well.
And considering the future to be that certain, there is, I believe, a sense in which it can be said that all is well now.
Have a read of 2 Kings 4:18-27 – a reading from the Old Testament that tells of a woman whose son has died. I’ve suggested, surprisingly perhaps, to stop reading at verse 27, at a point when the women’s distress remains unresolved. But I do so quite deliberately, because that is where we sometimes find ourselves – with our distress unresolved.
So what can we learn from this passage?
Well a boy has died. Without telling anyone why, his mother sets off to visit Elisha, the man of God. As she does so she tells her puzzled husband, who hasn’t yet learned that his son’s headache has had fatal consequences, that ‘all is well’. [2 Kings 4: 23].
Later when she reaches the home of the man of God and is asked if all is well, asked specifically even, if all is well her son, the woman insists that it is. ‘All is well’, she says [2 Kings 4:26]
What is going on here? How can she say that ‘all is well’ when it so self evidently is not? In her distress has the dead child’s mother lost her mind?
Far from it. In her distress she has done the most rational thing possible. She has turned in faith to God and has continued to believe that the Judge of the whole earth will do what is just. [Genesis 18:25]
Where God is sovereign, all is well, because all is well where God is sovereign.
Or at least it will be.
Weeping may tarry for the night time but joy comes with the morning. [Psalm 30:5] The current distress is real but the prospect of a bright tomorrow is so certain that, no matter how dark the night is, or how far off the day may still seem, we can still say that all is well. With God in control, we can be sure that the sun will eventually rise.
Because God has promised a day when all our tears will be wiped away, a day when death will be no more [Revelation 21:4], there is a sense in which ‘all is well‘ even as our tears continue to flow and daily we are surrounded by death and disease.
When the woman reached the man of God she took hold of his feet. The man of God’s servant tried to push her away, but the man of God was content to let her come to him in her distress. [2 Kings 4:27].
And so it will be for us. No matter the difficulties we currently face, no matter the sadness that daily fills our lives, we can be sure, that God is in control. As the psalmist reminds us, God has promised that if we call upon him in the day of trouble, he will deliver us. [Psalm 50:15].
It’s as certain as that!
Because of the cross our sins are atoned for.
Because of the cross we are reconciled to God.
Because of the cross nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
And when I say nothing, like the apostle Paul, I mean nothing. Not tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword. [Romans 8:35]. Furthermore we can be sure that, for those who love God, and are called according to his purpose, all things work together for good. [Romans 8:28]
Because the Son has risen, we can be sure that God is for us. And if God is for us then ‘all is well’.
Even when it isn’t.
But perhaps you can’t see it.
It is sometimes said that seeing is believing, but for a Christian, this isn’t true. Because for a Christian, it is hearing that is believing. Faith, we are tolad, comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. [Romans 10:17] Faith then is seeing what’s there, when what’s there, isn’t there to be seen, As the writer to the Hebrews says, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. [Hebrews 11:1].
It takes great faith, therefore, to see the things that are most hidden.
His is often held up as an example of a simple faith but surely the faith of the penitent second thief is a remarkable one.
Here is a man who is about to die the most painful of deaths, somebody who is totally undeserving of salvation. But not only does he still ask to be remembered by Jesus, he does so whilst the one he is asking is hanging on a cross and about to die too. He says:
‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’ [Luke 23:42].
Unlike the religious rulers, the Roman soldiers and the other thief who was being crucified that day, the second thief didn’t see Jesus’ death as a sign of defeat. He continued to speak of Jesus as one who was coming into his kingdom. For him, Jesus’ death didn’t mean an end to all the kingdom and salvation talk. In stark contrast to those who mocked Jesus, those who were looking to Jesus for a salvation FROM death, the second thief saw that the salvation Jesus was bringing about was one that was brought about THROUGH death.
He saw that Jesus’ death was not the end of Christ’s kingdom, but rather its beginning.
This is a profound truth – one that we would do well to try and grasp.
Far then from simple, the second thief’s faith was one that was truly remarkable. And we should not be surprised therefore when, as a result, Jesus responds to his request with the words:
‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise’ [Luke 23:43].
Jesus saw in the second thief somebody who got it! Somebody who trusted the power of God despite seeing what, to unspiritual eyes, was nothing but weakness. Somebody who saw victory where most saw only defeat. Somebody who understood the paradox of Good Friday.
That suffering is not irredeemable,
That sorrow is not incompatible with joy and
That even the darkest night can be followed by the brightest day.
Oh that we would all be granted a faith like that of the penitent thief who was assured of things hoped for and convinced of things not seen. [Hebrews 11.1] Oh that in the sadness of the nighttime we would all be able to look forward to the joy that comes with the morning. [Psalm 30:5] And oh that we would all believe that, irrespective of how things currently seem, God is doing all things well [Mark 7:37] and will surely see to it that the day eventually comes when everything is as it should be.
Because one day, all really will be well,
Related blogs:
To read ‘T.S. Eliot, Jesus and the Paradox of the Christian Life’, click here
To read “Luther and the global pandemic – on becoming a theologian of the cross”, click here
To read “Suffering- A Personal View”, click here.
To read “Why do bad things happen to good people – a tentative suggestion”, click here
To read “Hope comes from believing the promises of God”, click here
To read ‘on the FALLEN and the FELLED’, click here
To read ‘On NOT leaving your comfort zone’, click here
To read ‘Looking back to move confidently forward’, click here
To read ‘The Resurrection – is it just rhubarb?’, click here
To read ‘Faith and Doubt’, click here
Some musings 
Very thought provoking! x
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