I’ve always loved the PBS show “Finding Your Roots.” Each segment of the show explores the ancestry of an influential person, going back generations and filling in key details of family history. I’m not much of a binge watcher, but I could lose days on end watching the series. There is a strange heartbreak that happens almost every episode when secrets from generations past are dusted off and brought to light. Experiences of family members long gone explain so much about current family dynamics.

A few years ago, my parents were tracing and documenting their ancestry lines. It was like our family’s own “Finding Your Roots.” The exercise reminded my dad of stories he used to hear about his great grandfather, Albert. My dad decided to investigate Albert since we now can unlock the past at our fingertips. Albert was the person who brought my dad’s paternal side to America. Albert was born in England, where his family had lived for generation-upon-generation. Tragically, his mother died when he was a child. His father remarried and there was some kind of disharmony in the home – bad enough that when Albert was around 14 years old, he decided to leave England and board a ship to America. He had no money, so he agreed to become an indentured servant on the ship to work off the money owed for his passage to America. For many, being an indentured servant on such a voyage was a death sentence. Routinely indentured servants died en route to their destination due to the daily deadly tasks they were required to perform.

When my dad told me the story of Albert, my immediate reaction was sadness. I couldn’t imagine a 14-year-old boy leaving his family and traveling alone across the ocean, performing hard labor to pay for his voyage. Then, when he arrived in the new, strange country, he knew no one and had no money or prospects. I was sorry for his hard life. But in the next breath, my sorrow for him was replaced by absolute gratitude. Not only was I thankful for his courage and strength, but I found myself even thankful for the awful circumstances that led him to flee to America. I have to admit, that felt weird, even wildly inappropriate. But it also felt very natural, sacred, and even holy. I immediately made the generational leap to my life today and knew it was Albert’s hurt, disappointment, struggle, and pain that paved the way to my life. I was grateful, not gleeful, for all he endured. He lived a life I wouldn’t wish upon anyone, yet my life wouldn’t be the same without the choices he made from pain and struggle.

The story of Albert gave me a bigger picture of suffering and surrendering the plans we have for our lives. It also made Romans 8:28 come to life as I fast forwarded more than 100 years to my life. Yes, God did work all things – even the horrible childhood of my ancestor in the 1800s – for good. I’m sure there were snapshots from his life that would make anyone doubt any good could come from his suffering. And yet, we serve a God who works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

I’m reminded of Joseph in the Old Testament when I think about my great-great-grandfather’s life. Joseph started out well as the favorite son of Jacob. His father didn’t try to hide his favoritism among Joseph’s brothers. Allowing jealousy to rule them, Joseph’s brothers decided to sell him into slavery and tell their father he died. They wanted to rid themselves of the person they thought stood between them and their father’s love. When we fast forward to the end of Joseph’s story, we admire the great leader he became and the position he held that allowed him to save the very brothers who betrayed him. But that middle part… That part where Joseph is wrongly accused and thrown in jail, is sticky. How many of us would lose heart in those circumstances? How many of us would grow bitter and perhaps refuse to talk to God? And yet, those hardships were exactly part of the glorious story God used to save Joseph’s family, and elevate Joseph even further.

If I’m honest, I have had only one plan for my life. (This is where I wish I could say my one plan is to know Jesus and make Him known.) But I confess, my one plan for my life is to have an upward trajectory of comfort and success. I want all the good things, none of the bad. I want to avoid pain, suffering, and struggle. My greatest desire is to make choices that yield the best result that I can see now, not necessarily what God might work for good centuries later. But in light of my own family history, shouldn’t I surrender the reins of my life to the One who created all of history, secured my future, and even wrote the spectacular ending that never ends?

In light of God’s track record, it should be easy to surrender. The big catch is that while we are going through trials, we don’t get to see the coming glory; or the coming, “Ah, yes, of course, this is better than I could have planned.” We have to wait. And sometimes we don’t get to see the beautiful outcome this side of Heaven (like my great, great-grandfather). But we can trust that it IS coming. We can stake our lives on it.

In seasons of trials, we often writhe in pain, stomp our feet, and shake our fists at the calamity that has befallen us (I know I have). Notably, this is also where Satan loves to tempt us to believe God doesn’t love us and can’t be trusted with our futures. Many people have turned away from God due to horrific hurts in their lives. It’s an old-as-time strategy that has been very effective for Satan. Yet, even in my own life, I have seen tears give way to joy, pain lay the foundation for comfort, and betrayal yield relationships that are true and abundant. And that’s only what I have been given the privilege to see thus far. Lord knows there is more good coming, even after my time on earth is finished, I am sure of it.

Ecclesiastes tells us there is a season for everything under Heaven. Our hard seasons will pass, and we will reap the harvest God was moving us toward. Believing anything else is to side with chaos and calamity. May we declare with our mouths that we will never side with anything outside of the peace of knowing – even in our hardest, darkest trials – God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Lord, we trust You with our lives. Help us trust You with our lives (Mark 9:24). Forgive us for wanting and expecting our lives to be an ever-upward trajectory of ease, comfort and success. You write much more interesting stories than that, Praise Your Holy Name. Lord, by Your strength and because of Your character, may we lean into You during trials. Comfort Your children, Lord, in this fallen world. We love You. Maranatha! Amen.