Some years ago a speedboat driver who had survived a racing accident described what had happened. He had been at almost top speed when his boat veered slightly and hit a wave wrong. This caused the boat to lose control and he was thrown from his seat as the boat went spinning. He was shot into the water so deeply that he had no idea which direction the surface was. He had to remain calm and wait for the buoyancy of his life vest to begin pulling him up. Once he discovered which way was up, he could swim for the surface.
Sometimes up can seem down and down can seem up in life. How can we know which way to go? And this is where we simply calm down, and learn to trust the Lord, trust his word.
God is always trustworthy. He doesn’t fail on any promises. He isn’t late. He isn’t early. He keeps his word every time. Think of the most trustworthy person you know. He or she too will fail sometime or other. You will fail. I will fail. But God NEVER fails and no matter what happens in life, as you entrust your life to Him, you will “pop to the surface.”
As we look at this verse in Romans, we find reasons why we can entrust our lives into God’s hands. And that isn’t just today or next week but every single day of your life. We serve a God in whom we can entrust our ENTIRE lives.
1. You love God – he saved you from death and destruction. (he will not betray he whom he died for)
The first reason why we can entrust God with our lives is the fact that we love him. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together…” Why do you love him? Did you always love him? NO! You may not remember, but every one of us was born a rebel against God – loving not God but self. 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.” Ephesians 2:3 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved.”
The very fact that you love God is proof alone that God has done a miraculous work in your heart. He produced faith where there was no faith and love where there was no love.
2. You are called for HIS purpose – God only has good purposes
A second reason why you can entrust every day into God’s hands is that you are called for His purpose and God only had good purposes.
Now this is crucial – our life is not to be directed for OUR purposes, for OUR plans, for OUR desires and needs and wants. Our life was bought by God for HIS purposes. And when you became a believer, you resigned your life into his hands for his purposes.
Why are you here? Why are you alive? What is the purpose of your life? You are here to fulfill the will of God who paid the price for your life. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Last year we were shopping for insulation for our attic. One salesman actually came to our home and he must have spent over an hour just trying to chit-chat with us about our personal lives. Finally after hour urging, he began to present their product. And of course at the end of the 2 hour presentation, the bottom line figure was given which was way out of our budget. What was the point of all that chit-chat and personal interest? What was the motivation? To make us feel that we could trust him and that he treated us as a special client. Then we would more eagerly buy what he had to offer. His purposes? ONE THING – make lots of money. He wasn’t interested in our lives, our welfare, our future, our budget.
God of course is not out to rip us off or do a sneaky sales pitch. He is already the owner of all the universe but his goal is that you and I live for his glory – he knows that will be the most joyous, the most fulfilling, the most blessed existence we could ever have.
Just yesterday we were selling lots of goods at our garage sale and among those were a few beautiful pictures. Now, whoever bought one of those pictures is not going to go home and step on it and bang it around and ruin it. She is going to find a place on the wall which will make her home more beautiful and then carefully hang it on that wall.
God has bought you with a price – a price greater than anything we can imagine – the price of his Son. When we trust our lives into his hands in faith, we can KNOW that he’s not out to ruin us, to destroy us, to put us in a closet. No – his prized possession he takes out and he dusts us off, cleans us, renews us like never before. He loves and treasures us. He finds the perfect place in his home that will bring him the most glory. And there he places you. Do you realize that? Are you entrusting YOUR life into the Father’s hands?
3. He uses all things in our lives to produce good – what seems bad and good
The third reason we can entrust our lives into God’s hands is that he uses all things in our lives to produce something good. What does that mean? How is that revealed?
Let’s recall Joseph, from the Old Testament. He was a good boy. Beloved by his father Jacob. And yet hated by his many brothers. He was faithful to his father and what happened? His brothers came within a hair of murdering him in the wilderness. They ganged up on him in the pasture, threw him into a pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites as a slave. Joseph was then sold to a rich Egyptian master who put him in charge of everything he had. Joseph was very talented at administration and his master rewarded his hard work and ability. But his master’s wife longed for Joseph and wanted him for herself. She lured him to her bed. Joseph was faithful and refused her. What happened? He was accused by her of rape and thrown into the prison for many years. All of this is undeserved, painful, unfair! He did NOTHING wrong and yet he suffered over and over again. Was it bad luck? Does God really enjoy bringing torture to his child? Of course not!
After two full years the Lord gave Pharaoh a dream that he didn’t understand. No one could interpret what it meant. But he heard of Joseph in the prison who was able to interpret dreams. He called him out and Joseph revealed that there would be great produce for 7 years after which would be a terrible famine for another 7 years. Pharaoh raised Joseph up as the prime minister of Egypt at Pharaoh’s right hand where he oversaw the grain produce. And when the famine came, his brothers arrived in Egypt for help.
He told his brothers this timeless truth of the Bible: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.” (Gen 50:20)
Sometimes bad things happen in our lives as a direct consequence of our sins – of our failures. You get in a car accident because you drive too fast and recklessly. That’s NOT God’s intention that you get in a car accident but a consequence of your actions. And you may lose a leg or an arm. You may be paralyzed the rest of your life. But God can and will use that whole mistake and tragedy to do something good. That’s a miracle – that God can take tragedy and turn it into a blessing.
Death, sickness, accidents, failure, rejection, - none of these things are good. But God is promising here that he will make something good come out of them so that in the end they are not just tragedies.
It’s like a giant puzzle. God holds all the pieces and he will put them in the right place at the right time. He will use every part of your life and will use it for his plans. What is one plan that God has for you? To make you more like his Son Jesus Christ. To shape the way you talk and act to be more like him. The question is – will we submit to God day after day and entrust your life to him? Or will you go through life kicking and screaming at the Lord because it’s not the way you want it.
Don Piper tells the story of his "90 minutes in heaven" – the most glorious experience he could ever imagine. After dying in a head-on collision with a semi, a pastor was led to go up to his body mangled inside the wrecked car and pray for his healing. Don was healed of his head and internal injuries and came back to life to the astonishment of all the emergency personnel there.
It is an amazing story but bittersweet because Pastor Piper came back to life with a mangled arm and leg that were so destroyed that he spent almost a year in the hospital being rebuilt. For months he lived in constant pain as they attempted to rebuild his bones and stretch them to full size again. Not even pain killers took the agony away. And so for these many months he not only was in pain but in emotional depression knowing that he could have been in paradise when instead he was sent down to a living hell that never ended.
Finally after several months God began to reveal to him opportunities for ministry. After being released from the hospital he went back to his congregation and had the chance to go with his youth group to an evangelism rally. They arrived late and so the only empty seats were way up on the top of the auditorium. Don was still using crutches and every step up was painful. He cried out and complained every step of the way until he finally arrived at their seats, drenched with sweat. Just as he sat down he was prompted by God to notice a young man way down toward the bottom who was in a wheelchair, head hanging low. God told Don to talk to that boy. “I can’t – it’s too far!” But eventually he broke down and lumbered down the steps again and as he got close he realized that this teenager had the exact same leg surgery as he did. Don knew that this young man had to be discouraged and so he began talking to this young man – “I know how it feels.” “How could you?” “I had the same surgery. Right now it looks like the pain will never end but you will heal, you will get better and walk again.” He continued to encourage him and embrace this young man and they developed a long term relationship. It was life-changing for the young man.
Can you trust God with your life? ABSOLUTELY! Why?
• Because you love him – he’s bought you with a price of his Son.
• Because you are here on planet earth for God’s good purposes. He doesn’t intend to ruin his plans.
• Because ever event good or bad in your life can be used to produce Christlikeness in your character.
Unfortunately, none of these blessings will come upon any of us if we are rebellious, if we resist Him, if we continue in sin again God. All things work for good ONLY for those who love God, those entrusting their lives to him. If you don’t trust your life into his hands, your life will be simply for your own glory and there is no happy ending there. Let us all return to the Father’s arms. He is good and has great plans and in the end of our days we will be amazed at how he worked every little detail in our lives for something – for some purpose.
