All Things Work Together



Romans 8:28-30
28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

If you’ve been a Christian for more than 10 minutes you’ve heard (or perhaps spoken) this verse in some iteration. “…for those who love God all things work together for good.” Christians tend to pull this one out of their hat any time something bad happens as a source of encouragement for the sufferer as if to say “You’ll be okay. God will work it all out for you.” While this is true, timing is everything and it may not be helpful in the midst of the struggle. I still remember having a pastor say these words to me 21 years ago when I had been diagnosed with cancer. In that moment the words were confusing. How could it be a good thing that my girls should be left without their mother or my husband without his wife? How would my parents be edified by the loss of their daughter? While God did indeed work all of it out for my good, this pastor spoke these words prematurely. It is also rather a cheap application of the passage because it pulls these words right out of context and that is always a bad idea for this verse, placed where it is in a discourse on the tremendous grace of God, is heavy with grace and meaning for right now and eternity.

When left in context this passage refers to the grandeur and completeness of God’s redemption plan. There has never been a moment in the history of God’s creation where He slapped His forehead and said “Oh, I didn’t see that coming!” He has never been caught off guard or had to rebuild His plan because it fell apart along the way. Every single moment of our story played out in the mind of God before He uttered His first “Let there be.” The two verses that follow the famous “all thing work together” phrase indicate that God’s foreknowledge of us personally and of the big picture were perfectly formed.

There is so much comfort in knowing that God is not making this up as He goes along. Because He knows what is going to happen to me next He lays out a path before me that fits perfectly into His grand plan. That doesn’t mean the road will always be smooth and pothole free. Not even close. But it does mean that those potholes have been specifically and strategically placed so that I can grow, mature, and develop as pleases Him.

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