There are things in my life I cannot explain. I do not know why my dad died when I was fifteen. The disciples knew that feeling. Jesus told them that He was going away, and the Bible says, sorrow hath filled your heart (John 16:6). Then He said something that still stops me. It is expedient for you. Expedient means beneficial. Profitable. Needful. Jesus looked at the very thing that was breaking their hearts and called it good for them. They saw an empty place at the table. God saw Pentecost.

My wife loves puzzles. I have watched her hold up a single piece that looks like nothing at all. Grey. Shapeless. Wrong. She does not throw it out, because she is not looking at the piece. She is looking at the picture on the box. God is putting together the puzzle of your life. One piece may not look good. One piece may not seem fair. But we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Not each thing. All things. Together.

And He never sends you into a trial empty handed. If you lack wisdom, He gives it liberally (James 1:5). If your strength is small, and it will be, He renews it in those who wait upon Him (Isaiah 40:31). I believe a day is coming when we will stand before the Lord and ask Him why. Why that loss. Why that season. Why that thorn. And I believe He will answer with four words. It was expedient for you. You do not have to understand it to trust Him with it. He is good. He is wise. He never makes a mistake. And He is taking you home.