Introduction:
A little girl who was riding along on her bike when she bumped her head on the low hanging branch of a tree. She ran into the house hollering, "Mom! Mom, Joey hurt me!" Mom looked up from what she was doing and said, "Sissy, Joey didn’t hurt you. Joey’s not even here. He went to the grocery store with your daddy." The little girl got this startled look on her face. Then in a bewildered sort of voice she said, "That means stuff like this can happen on its own at any time. Whoa, bummer!" If we are really honest with ourselves there are things in life that broadside us and we are left feeling like life will get the best of us. We are so discouraged that we just don’t know what to pray. In fact when we do pray it seems like our words aren’t making it past the ceiling. We feel so alone and hopeless. We have cried out to God but we seem to get nothing but an awkward silence. Maybe God has forgotten me or has He just given up on me? The pain is real, the struggles are real and the questions are real. Paul was well aware of this reality and He provides us with answers to these difficult questions. As we open this section of Romans 8, we discover that Paul is providing us with some words of hope. In fact, if we open our hearts to these words we will find that God is still in control and He is at work in our situation even when it is not obvious. So let’s discover some important things we can take from this passage.
I. There are times when things get so rough that you think you don’t even know the words to pray.
A. The Holy Spirit is always present helping us through our weakness.
1. The most difficult aspect for Christians in difficult times is that we tend to evaluate our own resources in determining how we will make it through a particular situation.
2. When we see the term weakness it is referring to the limitations of our human condition.
3. Paul is actually re-emphasizing the point that we are a part of the fallen creation that he discussed earlier in chapter 8.
4. Paul shows that the Spirit is ever present picking up the slack and sustaining us in ways that we could never do on our own.
5. A.T. Robinson states it this way; “The Holy Spirit lays hold of our weaknesses along with us and carries his part of the burden facing us as if we were carrying a log, one at each end.”
6. The hope that helps us make it through the difficulties in life rests not in our abilities but the resources made available to us by God through the Holy Spirit.
B. When we don’t have the words the Holy Spirit fills in the blanks.
1. The fact is our weakness also extends to our prayers especially in those times that we are overcome by difficulties and the words to pray escape us.
2. Even in those times when we stammer and stumble in our prayers, Paul assures us that they do not lose their effectiveness because the Holy Spirit is at work as He knows exactly what is deep within our hearts.
3. Paul says that the Spirit intercedes for us. The term intercede means to make an appeal to someone on another person’s behalf.
4. Jack Cottrell states it this way in his commentary on Romans. “In our feeble attempts at heartfelt prayer, he intercedes for us, standing between us and the Father.”
5. In fact the Holy Spirit makes our prayers more effective because He allows our prayers to line up with God’s will.
6. The construction of the verse in the Greek shows that the Spirit literally helps us to pray the way we ought to pray.
II. There are times God seems absent but the reality is, He is still at work.
A. Even when God is silent, He is still working on our behalf.
1. Paul states that God works in “all” things. This covers a lot of territory including the different personalities, life experiences and circumstances we encounter on our journey through this life.
2. Verse 28 implies that in every situation that we encounter God is the game changer, taking the situation and using it to the benefit of His children.
3. The verse is not saying that God causes all the things that happen but He is in complete control and is working so that the situation ends in the way that will be most beneficial to us.
4. The promise that this verse provides is hard for us to wrap our brain around. However, God will bring ultimately good consequences out of whatever His children face in this life.
5. God loves all of His creation, however those who do not accept Him and return that love are not in any position to expect that they will enjoy these blessings.
B. We need to understand that God has a purpose for each of our lives.
1. Although God is working for the benefit of His children it in no way implies that life will be free of pain, suffering and sorrow but it does imply that He has a purpose for each of us.
2. The idea Paul presents when he uses the phrase “Called according to His purpose” is the same as the Old Testament concept of being God’s chosen people.
3. As a Christian, God has called us to be His people and this is not by accident. He has chosen us and has a unique purpose for each person.
4. The question is how does this calling happen? We are called by the Gospel resulting in the fact that some accept it and some refuse.
5. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:14—NIV 2011)
6. This call results in God working out His ultimate purpose for us. God wants to save us and make us a part of His family even more than we want to be saved.
C. We need to demystify some difficult concepts to get Paul’s point.
1. We need to tackle some words that have puzzled theologians for centuries. These words are foreknew and predestined.
2. The word for foreknew is proginosko which is used in the Bible to refer to God determining at the beginning to enter into a relationship with mankind.
3. The word for predestined includes two separate Greek words.
a. Horizo which means to determine.
b. Pro which means before.
c. So the word proorizo means to determine beforehand.
4. So what does this all mean? God in the very beginning determined that He would have a unique relationship with mankind and that they would be made in His image.
5. The problem is that mankind sinned messing everything up. So now this purpose can only be accomplished through the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross.
III. Learning to make Paul’s words a reality in our lives.
A. Realize that God understands our prayers even when we don’t.
1. When you face a difficult situation and you just do not know what to pray, the Holy Spirit gets the cry of our heart straight to God.
2. The Holy Spirit literally prays for us and God responds to these prayers.
3. There is no reason to think that our prayers will not make it to God’s throne, God will hear and respond by doing what is best for us.
4. We can boldly approach God with confidence knowing that the Spirit is there working on our behalf and lining our prayers up with God’s will.
B. Realize that God is always with His children in the good times as well as the bad.
1. Regardless of the situation we face, God has made sure that we do not have to rely on our own resources to make it through.
2. Just because we are unable to see how something could ever work out for our good does not mean that God has abandoned us or has lost control.
3. There are times when we feel completely alone and overcome by the situations we face. But we need to rest assured that God is working His will out even when we don’t see it.
4. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12—NIV 2011)
5. God sees the entire picture and we only see a small portion, so it is understandable that we are unable to see God’s plan unfolding.
C. Realize that you are not here by accident, God has a purpose for you.
1. God has a purpose for every person that has ever walked on the face of this earth. The problem is in the fact that there are those who refuse to accept it.
2. God’s ultimate desire is to have a unique personal relationship with each of us. This was a reality in the beginning but sin entered the picture and destroyed that relationship.
3. God is now working to reestablish this broken relationship by bringing us back to Him through Jesus Christ.
4. If we reject Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross we reject God’s purpose for our lives.
5. When we make the choice to reject all God has done through Christ we will miss out on the many blessings that He wants to give to us.
Conclusion:
Lt. John Blanchard was stationed in Florida during WW2. One day he wandered into the base library & found a book to read. As he worked his way through the book he became impressed, not so much with the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The feminine handwriting showed insight & understanding as well as a bit of tenderness.
He flipped to the front of the book & found the name of the previous owner of the book, the one who had donated it to the USO. Her name was Miss Alice Minell. Blanchard made some inquiries and found her address in New York State. He wrote her a letter, and the following day was shipped overseas. But her answering letter found its way to him overseas.
For 13 months they corresponded. They opened their hearts to each other and realized that they were on the verge of falling in love. In one of his letters he requested her picture, but she refused by saying, "If you really love me it won’t make any difference what I look like."
Finally he was shipped back to the states, and they made plans to meet. The place would be Grand Central Station, and the time was to be 7 pm. She would carry a rose. He would be in uniform, carrying a copy of the book that started the whole thing.
Finally it was 1 minute to 7:00. He straightened his uniform, his heart pumping anxiously. Listen to Blanchard’s story in his own words. "A young woman came toward me. Her figure was long and slim. Her hair was blond with curls. You could see a glimpse of her delicate ears, and her eyes were bluish black. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and she wore a pale green suit. She looked like spring come alive.”
"I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not carrying a rose. As she passed me, a small provocative smile curled on her lips and she said, `Going my way, soldier?’ Almost uncontrollably I made a step in her direction, and then I saw the woman with a rose.”
"There she stood, past 40, gray hair tucked under a worn hat, more than plump. Her thick ankles were thrust deep into low heeled shoes. But she had a rose. The girl in the green suit walked on quickly, and I felt like I was going to split in two. I had a keen desire to follow that beautiful woman who had just passed. But I also had a deep longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me in her letters during the war.”
"There she stood. Her pale plump face was gentle, sensible. Her gray eyes were warm and had a twinkle. I did not hesitate any longer. My fingers gripped the small worn book that was to identify me. I thought, `This may not be love, but it will be something precious.’
"I squared my shoulders, held out the book to the woman and said, `I’m Lt. John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Minell. I’m so glad finally to meet you. May I take you to dinner?’” "The woman’s face broadened in a smile. She said, `I don’t know what this is all about, soldier. But that young lady in green who just went by begged me to carry this rose. She said that if you were to ask me out to dinner, that I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the restaurant across the street.’ Then she asked, `Is this some kind of a test?’"
Lt. Blanchard passed the test. Will you?
