All Things Work Together For Good

Romans 8:28-29

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

WORKING TOGETHER FOR GOOD

In our rush for immediate fulfilment of our desires, we have replaced the concept of delayed gratification to instant gratification. As individuals and as a culture, we have exchanged independence for entitlement. Saints of God are prone to assume that they have right to have freedom from adversity. Too many Christians feel that God should be available to ensure that they never face opposition or that they are never subjected to a sermon that hurts their feelings. The reality is that bad things happen to good people. However, that is not the end of the story. Christians suffer; some suffer to the point of death. If that was all there was to the story, there would be no real reason to even consider becoming a Christian. if Christians were somehow divinely protected from experiencing injury or pain, everyone would choose to be a Christian.

We then go to our text in Romans. This is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. Most of the time people say all things work together for good and leave it at that. But if you look at our text it starts with something that is very important. The first three words of the text says: and we know. We focus mostly on all things work together for good but not on the things that we're supposed to know. Knowing is different than feelings. Feelings come and go based on what just happened. But there are certain things that we must know in order to walk this Christian life. A lot of Christians are always in turmoil or they are not sure about God's place in their life. I think it's because of what they don't know. If you read the scriptures up until Romans chapter 8:28, Paul tells the story about how bad we were and how Jesus became the perpetuation for our sins. It is a very beautiful story about how Adam cause sin to engulf us by giving away the planet to the enemy and how Jesus came to take us back. That is not a feeling felt but a belief to follow. So, what are we supposed to know? I think we're supposed to know that God is sovereign. That means that God is fully in control. I think we're supposed to know that God is omnipotent. I think we're supposed to know that God is omnipresent. I think that we're supposed to know that nothing happens until God said so. I think we're supposed to know that God loves us more than we can ever love ourselves. I think we're supposed to know that nothing happens to us, his children, unless he allows it. There are certain things that were supposed to know in order to walk this Christian life. I think that we have to know that God we'll take care of us always. David said I once was young but now I'm old, but I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. That's something that we must know. David also said that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. That's something that we must know. We have to know about God. We have to know that God is ever present and that God loves us dearly. We have to know that we are one of his children, adopted by him through the blood of the lamb called Christ Jesus. We have to know that greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Think about all these things that we have to know. There's no way that God will allow something to happen to us unless he says it's OK. We have to know that no matter what. That is not a feeling felt but a belief to follow. we have to know that about God, that he's sovereign, he's omnipotent, he's omniscient, he's omnipresent and that he is immutable. That means that God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever more. Those are things that we know and we don't need a feeling to verify.

The next part about our text states that all things work together for good. Because we know who God is, we know that all things work together for good. Even those things that we do bad and wrong and evil, God can work for our good. God is just that strong. he is just that wise. he is just that big. I often hear people struggle in their relationship with their wife or husband. Some of them even believe that their wives don't love them or don't care about them. Or they believe that their husband don't care about them at all. Sometimes we stay in a place in our lives because we haven't realized what we need to know about God. God tells the husband to always love his wife as Christ loved the church. We have to know that when we do that, husbands, that God will work through that for our good. There are no ifs ands and butts about this, God works it out for our good.