All Things Work Together For Good
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
When I was young and going to church, the pastor often referred to this verse. It was quoted whenever there was some tragedy that occurred. It was quoted at funerals, over bedsides of the severely ill, or when someone lost a job. I heard it so frequently when things went wrong, that instead of feeling comforted, I became angry. In the branch of the organized church to which I belonged, the general attitude about suffering was "grin and bear it." I don't remember anyone trying to explain what "all things work together for good" meant. It was just the appropriate scripture to quote for that moment. This detachment from the reality of the situations in which we found ourselves left me feeling like a child being abused by an angry parent who used punishment merely as a way to vent anger.
As I visited various churches as a young adult, I heard another twist on this verse. To these Christians, "all things work together for good" meant that God was going to make your life wonderful. If He wasn't making everything work out perfectly, then you must not love Him or something else was wrong in your life. To these people, being a Christian meant that all we had to do was get in line with God's word and our lives would magically be great. We would be prosperous, we would have no sickness (or if we were sick we would be miraculously healed), and we would be happy and successful. That philosophy works great when things are going well. When things get tough, however, and all the repenting and getting right with God doesn't seem to help the situation, you are left wondering, again, if God really cares.
There is yet another more sane interpretation of the this verse that squares more with the rest of Scripture and with real life walking with the Lord. When you are one of God's chosen ones, called to be His own, you love Him. God's promise to His children is not that life will be rosy. His promise is that when you go through the inevitable bad times, He will turn the circumstances to work out for the best for you and your relationship with Him. We are preparing to be with Him for eternity. Our purpose here is not mere existence. Trials are meant to bring us closer to Him and make us stronger in our faith.
When I left a good church job due to terrible circumstances and a lot if injustices toward me, it looked like total disaster for my family. Nearly a 1/4 of our family income was instantly gone. We no longer had a home church to attend. Many of my friends abandoned me. Less than two weeks after that tragedy, my father-in-law died after nearly 4 months of agonizing days in the hospital. A week later, I crashed my new car into my husband's truck damaging both vehicles. Just about the time I recovered from that, my wallet containing $300 I owed to my brother-in-law was stolen by a neighbor in my home while I was helping her grandchild with a bee sting. Not long after these tragedies, I learned one of my dearest friends was diagnosed with liver disease.
What does one do in the face of all these tragedies? Repent in dust and ashes like Job? Yes, but I have learned that the repenting doesn't always come first. God's faithfulness, and the promise that He would make something good come of this string of troubles, is what carried me. No, I don't know why God let this happen, but I do know that He doesn't waste experiences, if we let Him work through them. It is nearly a year since all this happened, and I can look back and see nothing but God's faithfulness in providing for us, in miraculous ways at times. The neighbor who stole the wallet is now a believer and no longer addicted to prescription drugs. God has graciously allowed me to be involved in two churches, one is a church start up, an answer to a prayer I prayed over 10 years ago. I could go on and on. None of these things would have happened if the tragedies had not occurred. God works all things together for good.
The non-believer, the lost person does not have this hope. When tragedy strikes, he has no such assurance that anything good will come of his trials. When his friend dies, his wife leaves him or he loses all his fortune, there is no hope at all. For those of us who know the Lord, this truth should both humble us and make us thankful. It should also cause us to reach out to those who are lost that they may find salvation, renewal, comfort and grace in our merciful Lord.
When I was young and going to church, the pastor often referred to this verse. It was quoted whenever there was some tragedy that occurred. It was quoted at funerals, over bedsides of the severely ill, or when someone lost a job. I heard it so frequently when things went wrong, that instead of feeling comforted, I became angry. In the branch of the organized church to which I belonged, the general attitude about suffering was "grin and bear it." I don't remember anyone trying to explain what "all things work together for good" meant. It was just the appropriate scripture to quote for that moment. This detachment from the reality of the situations in which we found ourselves left me feeling like a child being abused by an angry parent who used punishment merely as a way to vent anger.
As I visited various churches as a young adult, I heard another twist on this verse. To these Christians, "all things work together for good" meant that God was going to make your life wonderful. If He wasn't making everything work out perfectly, then you must not love Him or something else was wrong in your life. To these people, being a Christian meant that all we had to do was get in line with God's word and our lives would magically be great. We would be prosperous, we would have no sickness (or if we were sick we would be miraculously healed), and we would be happy and successful. That philosophy works great when things are going well. When things get tough, however, and all the repenting and getting right with God doesn't seem to help the situation, you are left wondering, again, if God really cares.
There is yet another more sane interpretation of the this verse that squares more with the rest of Scripture and with real life walking with the Lord. When you are one of God's chosen ones, called to be His own, you love Him. God's promise to His children is not that life will be rosy. His promise is that when you go through the inevitable bad times, He will turn the circumstances to work out for the best for you and your relationship with Him. We are preparing to be with Him for eternity. Our purpose here is not mere existence. Trials are meant to bring us closer to Him and make us stronger in our faith.
When I left a good church job due to terrible circumstances and a lot if injustices toward me, it looked like total disaster for my family. Nearly a 1/4 of our family income was instantly gone. We no longer had a home church to attend. Many of my friends abandoned me. Less than two weeks after that tragedy, my father-in-law died after nearly 4 months of agonizing days in the hospital. A week later, I crashed my new car into my husband's truck damaging both vehicles. Just about the time I recovered from that, my wallet containing $300 I owed to my brother-in-law was stolen by a neighbor in my home while I was helping her grandchild with a bee sting. Not long after these tragedies, I learned one of my dearest friends was diagnosed with liver disease.
What does one do in the face of all these tragedies? Repent in dust and ashes like Job? Yes, but I have learned that the repenting doesn't always come first. God's faithfulness, and the promise that He would make something good come of this string of troubles, is what carried me. No, I don't know why God let this happen, but I do know that He doesn't waste experiences, if we let Him work through them. It is nearly a year since all this happened, and I can look back and see nothing but God's faithfulness in providing for us, in miraculous ways at times. The neighbor who stole the wallet is now a believer and no longer addicted to prescription drugs. God has graciously allowed me to be involved in two churches, one is a church start up, an answer to a prayer I prayed over 10 years ago. I could go on and on. None of these things would have happened if the tragedies had not occurred. God works all things together for good.
The non-believer, the lost person does not have this hope. When tragedy strikes, he has no such assurance that anything good will come of his trials. When his friend dies, his wife leaves him or he loses all his fortune, there is no hope at all. For those of us who know the Lord, this truth should both humble us and make us thankful. It should also cause us to reach out to those who are lost that they may find salvation, renewal, comfort and grace in our merciful Lord.
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