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.
But let's not leave out the important part of this scripture. The important part of this scripture is that all things work together for good for them who love the Lord and are the called according to his purpose. I remember in John how Jesus said that if you love me, keep my commandments. if we're going to love the Lord it cannot be primarily by our emotions or by some feeling. Love is not a feeling, it is a choice. we have to choose to do what God said based on his scripture instead of doing what we feel like doing. Most times Christians stay in the same old spot because they don't believe that God will work that situation out in their life for good. it will cause them to start doing things that is not loving God. If you do not think God is moving fast enough and you start turning to drugs or alcohol, how do you expect to see things to work out for your good? If you are doubting what God has said in his word that no weapon formed against me shall ever prosper and you find substitutes, how can you expect to see God moving on your behalf? Our eyes are fixed somewhere else instead of God. God is always working things out for our good, for our best. if we're involved in habitual sin, how can we see God working things out for our good. when we are busy doing the work for God and following his will, we can see the good that he works in our lives. If we are involved in doing things that are not according to his word, it affects our ability to see how much he works it out for our good. Elisha’s servant came out early in the morning. He was just walking around enjoying the morning. But when he came out, he looked around and saw that the city of Dothan was surrounded by a chariot of the enemy. He ran screaming back to Elijah stating that they were going to be killed. Elisha came out and saw what the servant saw but because he was seeking God, he saw more than what the servants saw. Elijah said a prayer to God and ask God to open the eyes of his service so the servant can see that there was more for him than against him. Elisha could only see God’s moving because of what he knew about God. His past history of sin didn’t get in the way. His focus was on the God who loved him. That is what I mean by someone who is loving the Lord. If you're loving the Lord, you are focused on doing what he said. If you are loving God, you are doing your best to follow him. This does not mean that we are perfect, but it does mean that we are focused. James tells us to count it all joy when we fall in the various trials, knowing this at the trying of your faith worketh patience; but let patience have its perfect work her perfect word that you may be perfect and entire lacking nothing. God is bringing things in our lives so you can depend on him. Isn't that patience? Isn't that perseverance?
As all of you know I need a kidney transplant. It's been almost four years for me being on various list. Every year I must go and get an annual checkup to make sure that I can stay on the transplant list. The other day I went to a local hospital for my annual checkup. One of the doctors I had to see was a neurologist. I had never seen this neurologist before. he started asking various questions which I was able to answer. he came to the recent tests on my heart. He said he saw some abnormalities in my heart and was not sure if he would recommend that I be on the list. He was very cold with no emotions and no sympathy. I became upset in angry at what he was saying. I had never heard this about my heart from my cardiologist. I had some choice words in my heart about what I thought about him. One thing I thought was why is this guy who is not a cardiologist telling me about what a cardiologist would do! I got into my car, and I remembered the scripture that we will be doing for Bible study which was Romans 828. I stay focused and I listen to some Christian songs. that helped me focus. I began to seek the Lord in prayer. One song was about how God is good all the time. One song was about how God loves us throughout good and our bad. I couldn't let my feelings get in the way. I had to focus on what God's word said. The more I focus on God's word the better I felt. My situation didn't change but my focus did. my situation was still heavy on my heart but my confidence grew. The next day as I went to work, I got a call from the my cardiologist. she told me that she had read the secure email that I had sent her. She told me not to worry about anything. She said she knew why the doctor at that local hospital had an issue. It was a defibrillator that I had that made it seem as if things were not as it should be. In fact, she even told me that my last Test showed that my heart was stronger than it was before. Isn't God good? I would never have seen this if I was focusing on myself. I would never have seen and expecting God to move in such a way if my focus was on a pity party for myself. My focus was on God and all I could do was shout and say Hallelujah. I had to say God is good. But I knew that God was working on my behalf to show me some things about him in my walk. Remember, God is working on our perseverance, our patience, our faithfulness. our faithfulness is proven by our ability to know things about God; that all things work together for good to us who love him, the called according to his purpose.
This next part of our text talks about called according to his purpose. Whenever you are tempted there is a purpose. Whenever something heavy happens to you, there is a purpose. We must know that God loves us so much that he has an individual purpose for us. All those things that happen at your job, there's a purpose. All those things that happen with your family members, it has a purpose. All those things that happen with your wife, there is a purpose. All those things that happened with your husband, there is a purpose. When sickness hits your body, there is a purpose. With things don't go your way, there is a purpose. God has a purpose to work out for our good.
no matter what happens in your life, you have to know that God is good. You must know that God is good all the time and that all the time God is good. There is never a day that God is not good. There is never a minute a second of the day that God is not good. God is always good, and he always does good for us. There's an old saying that says no pain no gain. God is preparing us for glorious things to come. Our job is to walk in faith and not by sight. Our job is to be steadfast, unmovable, always abiding in the work of the Lord, or we have to know that our labor is not in vain. God is not working to be our Santa Claus. God is not wanting us just to stand with our hands open just to receive everything from him. God is always giving us what we need. For my God shall supply all of my needs according to his riches and glory. Seek you first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Part of being obedient is for us to seek God. God wants us to seek him so that we can find things about him. Sometimes as Christians we just sit in our lounge chair expecting God to just pour things out in our lap. God wants us to seek him. So when things get in the way of your life, you get a chance to practice what you know. You get to practice what you know about God. You get to practice what God has told you as being the truth. We get to know a see how good God is. There are many people who know that God is good. If you would like you can ask those Saints of God if God is good. You can ask David and he'll tell you God is good, you can ask Elijah, ask Ruth and Ruth would tell you that God is good. You can ask Moses, Abel, ask Solomon, ask Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and they will tell you that God is good. You can ask John, Daniel ask, Jonah, ask Mary, his own mama and she would tell you that God is good. You can ask your grandmother, your dad and he would tell you that God is good. Even on a bad day God is still good. All things work together for good to them that love the Lord and called according to his purpose. How can we say that? We can say that because of what we know about God. God is good God is sovereign God is everything that we need. God is love, God is mercy, God is our All in all.
THE CROSS
