Good or Bad?

It is hard to know if something that happens in life is good or bad.  I am in the middle of what seems to be a horror story with Dell.  My notebook, lifeline, doesn’t display anything, the motherboard is acting funny, and everything seems to be on the verge of collapsing.  I have a service contract which states the machine is fixed, yesterday.  So far I am unable to get the service techs to even call me!  No communication, no appointment, and as a result a computer which is increasingly on the verge of dying.  The circumstances seem grim, but are they good or bad?  I’m not sure.
 
Anytime one realizes the situation is unexpected the questions begin.  It is easy to where the confusion begins.  One story recounts how when it was “early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb [of Jesus] and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance.” (John 20.1)  Mary had no clue what was going on.  Was it good or bad? 
 
I do know the situations were and are, as it would be for anyone similar shoes, stressful.  In many ways the circumstances claw at the core of one’s energy, draining reserves, extracting whatever is left to support the lifeline of the present.  Yet I wonder, even in the midst of doubts, uncertainties, and fears, if each situation is an opportunity for me and others to grow and model compassion, mercy, and a willingness to engage in the messy side of life.
 
Today is unfolding with as much, or even more, uncertainty than I found yesterday.  The pressures are unfolding in way I did not anticipate.  I am clearly unprepared for what is to come.  Yet I find myself seeking the peace Divinity offers each freely and without condition.  We have the opportunity to be a haven for God.  We can participate in the Divine plan for the community in which we live.  Whatever life gives, I do know God is good.