Athanasius & the Goodness of God

Ever had something awful occur in your life just to have someone come along and say something like: "It's probably for the best" or, "something good will come out of this"? Makes you want to punch them. A college classmate of mine died years ago and his father recalled how at the hospital some folks from church came to offer comfort by encouraging him to try and find some good in his son's death. This father later wrote that he wished these friends would have simply cried with him. The truth is that life can just pretty much suck sometimes and attempts to forage for something good from those times amounts to little more than stage one denial. Yet in such times the oft-quoted passage from the book of Romans does come to mind: "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him" (8:28). Is this true?