In All Things
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Photo by Darcy McCarty
Don’t believe the lie that a challenge, a relationship, or a circumstance is so bad off that even God can’t work it out for His good. It doesn’t say in Romans 8:28 that in SOME things God works together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose; it says “ALL things”.
Have you ever heard somebody say that we don’t get more than we can handle? I’m just saying, it’s never worked out like that for me. I don’t know about you but I’ve had to deal with more than I can handle, more often than I can handle it. But when we read Romans 8:28 it adds the element of hope to the challenges we face. I love the part in this Scripture that talks about God working all things out for good. When Beth and I got married we wrote out a vision statement for our marriage. In this vision statement we said that we would “hold on to the faith that God will come through even when it doesn’t look like He will.” I don’t think we realized when we wrote this how often we would need to remind ourselves of it. It was a lot easier to come up with the statement than it’s been to actually have to live it. But I can tell you, we need to believe it, because it’s true. When we look in the rear view mirror at the circumstances we’ve been through over the last 10 years of our marriage, we have seen evidence of God’s faithfulness. It hasn’t been easy and there are times we’ve wondered if He would see us through. But when it doesn’t appear that He is working things out for good, our faith tells us otherwise, and Scripture tells us otherwise. All of us have to make a decision to either believe it and live in victory or give up and live in defeat. Life will give you more than you can handle, but God is capable of handling anything life throws at you.
But what about the rest of this Scripture in Romans 8:28? It says that God is working all things together for good but it also says, “for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” God is not asking us in this Scripture to work harder. He’s not asking us to sell all our possessions and submit to a life of poverty. He’s not even asking us to vote republican or democrat. He is asking us to do two things:
- Love Him
- Know and live out His purpose for our lives
So how do we love Him? If you don’t love God, I can’t tell you how to love Him. I can only tell you that He loves you. If you’re reading this I believe He’s pursuing you and wanting you to know that. I’d challenge you to not look to any man as a model for who Jesus is. I pray you’d dig in to Scripture and learn about Him for yourself. It’s through Him that you will fall in love with God.
If you’re wondering what God’s purpose is for your life, I can’t specifically tell you that either, but I know that it’s rooted in sharing the love you have for God with others. Whether its reaching people in your profession, going on an overseas mission trip, reaching out to people in need within your own community, raising kids and being a stay-at-home Mom, or whatever God is calling you to do, His love compels us to share it wherever we are and in all circumstances.
A little later on in Romans 8:31 it tells us that “If God is for us who can be against us.” I can’t think of any greater confidence than knowing this. When we love Him and when we are called according to His purpose, you can be confident that in all things God is working for your good. I’m Praying you’ll believe it today.