ROM.8:28 "WHAT TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU’RE HAVING A BAD HAIR DAY"
A) Story of an Indian lying in the middle of the road with his ear pressed to the ground.
* The Indian was mumbling these words: "Truck, Chevy truck, Chevy pick up truck, Large tires,
Man driving, German shepherd in front seat, Loaded with firewood, Cal. license plate UBH123."
* "Wow, this is unbelievable! You can tell all that by listening to the ground?
* The Indian said, "No, truck ran over me thirty minutes ago."
B) Did you hear about the train that was going through town but wasn’t scheduled to stop?
* There was a very short passenger on the train who wanted to get off because if he didn’t, he
would have to pay $100.00 for a taxi to bring him back to town.
C) Well, the man sitting in the seat next to him had a brilliant idea!
* He said, "Look, this train always slows down to pick up the mailbag."
* "When it slows down, I’ll hold you out the window."
* "When I drop you, you start running so you wont fall, and simply run to a stop!"
D) Well, the train did slow down, and the man looked to his little friend,
* Held him out the window and dropped him! * The man was running along the platform,
waving at him, thanking him for his help!
E) About that time, a man seated in the next car saw the little man running on the platform,
* And waving his hands, reached out and grabbed him, and pulled him in through the window,
and said, "This is your lucky day, you almost missed the train!"
F) There was this little guy sitting inside a bar just looking at his drink.
* He didn’t move for half an hour. * Then this big trouble-making truck driver stepped up next
to him, took the drink from the guy and just drank it all down.
* The poor man started crying. * The truck driver turned and said, "Come on man, I was just
joking. Here, I’ll buy you another drink. I just can’t stand to see a man crying!"
G) "No, it’s not that. Today is the worst day of my life!"
* First, I overslept and was late for an important meeting & my boss got mad & fired me.
* When I left the building to my car, I found out that it was stolen.
H) The police said they could do nothing. * I then got a cab to return home, and after I paid the
cab driver and the cab had gone, I found that I left my wallet in the cab.
* I got home only to find my wife was in bed with the gardener.
* I left home depressed & came to this bar. * And now, when I was thinking about putting an end
to my life, you show up and drink the poison!
I) Let’s face it: Life is filled with bad hair days! * Even bad hair months, or ... years!
* But there is a promise recorded in Rom.8:28 that we should never forget!
* Let me suggest to you what to remember when you’re having a bad hair day!
(1) REMEMBER GOD’S PROMISE TO YOU!
* There are 3 words that are extremely important in really understanding this verse!
* "We" ... "Know" ... "All" ... * "And we know that all things ......."
A) "WE" - refers to the ones that love God and are called!
* There are only two types of people in this world - Those who love God & those who don’t!
* A lot of people say they love God, but Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments!"
B) Don’t love just in words, but love in deeds and action - 1 John 3:18
* In other words, people who truly love God don’t just say it, they show it!
C) Remember, God’s promise is to those who love God and are called according to .......!
* You see, not everyone can say, "Don’t worry, everything will work out!"
* Because everything does not work out for everybody!
D) Everything works out for God’s children! * People of the world may say,
* "Well, I’m not a Christian and everything is going fine for me."
* But I submit that if that person dies and goes into eternity without God, things really didn’t
work out for them! * All things work together for good to "them that love God, to ......."
E) "Know" - There are a lot of things about God, the Bible & life we don’t know!
* We don’t always know how to pray! * We don’t know what Jesus looks like!
* We don’t know exactly when Jesus is coming again! * As matter of fact:
* We don’t even know what is going to happen in the next five minutes!
F) It is dishonest to claim you don’t know what you do know!
* It is foolish to claim that you know what you do not know!
* But no one should hesitate to claim to know what they do know!
* And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them .......!
* Note: It did not say "and we see that all things ........" * It says, "We know that all .......!"
G) "All" - Now think about this, what is all? * Every one of, all means all & that’s all all means!
* "All things" not a few things, not the good things, not the glorious things, but all things!
* The sunshine, the rain, the gladness, the sadness, the heartache, the heartbreak,
* Whatsoever, whensoever, they all work together for our good and for God’s glory!
(2) REMEMBER GOD’S PROVIDENCE OVER YOU!
* Behind every promise of God is the providence of God! * What does providence mean?
A) Providence means: to see beforehand and to provide for what is seen!
* The providence of God simply means that God sees every event before it occurs,
* And provides for that event and makes sure that it fits into His plan for your life!
B) Did you know that there are no accidents in the life of a child of God?
* Just appointments! * So often, disappointments are really "His-appointments!"
* So many times what we think is a rock of disappointment turns out to be a boulder of blessing!
C) I like that phrase: "work together!" * It means to create and eliminate, place & replace,
* Connect and group, press and stretch, move and operate, control and guide.
* It means that all things are continually working together for our good!
* God is in control of the believer’s life! * Daily, moment by moment, God is arranging and
re-arranging all things for the believer’s good!
D) Story of a man who had been shipwrecked on an island! * He made the best of .......!
* He prayed everyday to be delivered! * One day, his hut caught on fire by lightning.
* He cried and complained to God ... "Why did you burn up my hut?"
* In less than an hour, a rescue boat came and rescued him!
* They had spotted his smoke signal and came to save his life!
E) Now that don’t mean that all things that happen to us are good!
* As you well know everything that happens to us aint always good!
* But everything that happens to us will ultimately work together for our good!
F) Like biscuits, surely no one would eat a bowl of flour or a cup of lard!
* Or a cup of baking powder or raw eggs, but mix them together and put them in the oven,
and "yum, yum!" * You see, it is not what goes into the bowl that matters!
* It is what comes out of the oven that counts!
G) You may not always enjoy the ingredients that God puts into the recipe of your life!
* But when He is finished baking it, you will have a Rom.8:28 busquit and it will taste good!
* Remember God’s promise to you! * Remember God’s providence over you!
(3) REMEMBER GOD’S PURPOSE FOR YOU! * Well, what is God’s purpose?
* God’s purpose for you is: "For our good!" * This means for our ultimate good:
A) That the end result of your entire life will be to the good!
* A good example: Story of Demingo Pacheco on May 11, 1996.
* On his way to catch flight 592 out of Miami, he had a flat tire.
* After a hot, sweating, miserable hour of changing a flat tire and complaining, "Why, why, why,"
he missed his flight and was so mad! * His cell phone rang, it was his mother.
B) She said, "Where are you?" * He explained what happened about the tire .......
* She said, "Turn your radio on and thank God ... The plane, flight 592 out of Miami, just
crashed into the Everglades!" * Praise God for a flat tire! * It was for his good!
C) In 1971, Hein Pham, an interpreter for Ravi Zacharias who ministered to the men in
Vietnam, was captured and imprisoned!
* He was treated cruelly by the communists & severely disciplined for helping the Americans.
* He was placed in a dark dungeon, not allowed to read the Bible or any English literature.
D) Everyday he was forced to read Marx or other communist literature.
* He became very bitter towards Christian faith and God & began to buckle under pressure!
* He began to question, "Is there a God, is Christianity real?"
E) He determined in his mind to never pray and talk about Christianity again!
* The next day he was put on duty to clean the latrines.
* As he was cleaning, he noticed a piece of paper, all messed up and he cleaned it off
and put it in his pocket! * When he got back to his cell, he remembered the piece of paper.
F) He pulled out the paper & it was a page of the Bible that someone used as toilet paper!
* He opened it up and it read, "And we know that all things work together for good ......."
* He asked to clean the latrines everyday, a job no one wanted, so he could find more of
the Word of God and encourage him in the faith!
G) Later on in life, Hein was amazingly released, but couldn’t leave the island.
* After a period of time, he and 50 other people decided to escape from the island by ship.
* One night, 4 Viet Cong guards came to the house and asked was he planning an escape.
* He said, "No," but after wrestling with God ....... * The guards came back .......
H) They asked him again, and he said, "Yes, I can’t lie, I am planning an escape."
* And to his amazement, they said they were excellent navigators & wanted to go with him!
* They set sail and hit a terrible storm, and Hein began to ask questions to God .......
I) But because of their ability, made it through the storm!
* And the ships giving chase perished in the storm! * Praise the Lord!
* What am I saying? * And we know that all things work together for good .......!
CLOSE
A) What assurance we have here in this text! * What a promise from God!
* "All things," whether we understand or not, shall work together for good to them that ...!
B) So, when you’re having a bad hair day, when you’re going through these "all things,"
* You remember God’s promise to you! * You remember God’s provisions over you,
* And you remember God’s purpose for you!
C) Come to Jesus right now!
