Seeing God's Goodness

Psalms 27:13,14
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

I write this knowing the truth, but fighting through the muck of this world that tells me things are not good. I guess it is really is a perceptual issue - and I ask myself - can their be good in the bad? Is that possible, or is the bad just really bad? How does God redeem the bad, when the bad doesn't go away? He can add good to the bad, but not take away the bad. Maybe that is the point, that here on earth things will always be good and bad. Only in heaven are things only good. This year has been full of lots of hard stuff - friends miscarriages, a friend losing a spouse, a couple of friends losing their babies, friend's and family losing their parent, family and friends experiencing major illness and pain - sadness almost too much to bear. Maybe I just have the wrong perception of death and pain - for those we know are going to heaven - death isn't a bad thing , it's a good thing and pain - it is temporary. I myself am not fearful or scared of dying. But being the one left on earth to grief - I find death and pain to be bad things, hard things, things I'd rather not be dealing with. But who do I think I am - everyone dies and pain is sure to continue coming - why would I think that I would be immune. I will likely watch many of the closest people in my life die and suffer pain. I do feel like the reality of death and pain has set me straight in some ways - it makes my purpose as a follower of Christ more clear, it makes me cherish the time I do have here a lot more and it makes me know where my real home is. This journey of life is a work in progress - full of all emotions - fun ones and hard ones. May I be able to see the beauty in sorrow someday - I'm just not there yet. Yet I will be confident in the Goodness of the Lord - I will wait for Him and be strong and take heart!