ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
OUTLINE
1.TRAINING
2.TRANSIENCE
3.TRANSFORMATION
4.TEARS
5.TURNAROUND
6.TRIUMPH
7.TESTING
THE MESSAGE
ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD
1.TRAINING
The Lord trains us to do the work He wants us to do.This training process involves discipline,correction and development.He chastens us in order to develop us.The training process will be according to work He wants us to do. Easy work requires easy training but difficult tasks require difficult,intensive and elaborate training. But let us remember that even the training process and chastening will work only for our good.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Hebrews 12:5-11
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
2.TRANSIENCE
The Lord allows some periods of pain and difficulty in our life.But it is only transient and temporary.His love towards us is permanent.Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.Let us remember that the mercy of God is permanent in our lives.These transient periods of pain will be followed by good times.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Psalms 30:5
5 For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.
Isaiah 54:7-8
7 “For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.
3.TRANSFORMATION
The Lord turns our sorrow into joy. He can turn the very source of sorrow into a source of joy.Saul in the New Testament was a source of sorrow and pain to the church causing great persecution to the church.But God turned Saul into Paul and made him a great source of joy and blessing to the church.Whatever is a source of sorrow to us ,God can turn that very thing into a source of joy for us.Thus even our source of sorrow works for good in our life.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
John 16:20
20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.
4.TEARS
The Lord helps us to make our tears into a source of blessing.We can pass through the valley of tears and make it into a well.He comforts us and makes us a source to comfort to those in sorrow. We should not drown in our sorrows but make it a well where others who go through similar sorrowful experiences can come and receive comfort and guidance and strength.Thus even our tears can make us a source of blessing and ultimately work for our good.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Psalms 84:5-7
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion.
II Corinthians 1:3-5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
5.TURNAROUND
The Lord takes the evil intended against us and turns it into good.Every evil intended against Joseph ultimately turned into good .His brothers act of selling him as a slave helped him to reach Egypt.Potiphar’s wife’s false accusation helped him reach the prison where he interpreted the cup bearer’s dream.This in turn caused the cup bearer to remember Joseph when the King had a dream which nobody could interpret.Thus Joseph was brought before the Pharoh who put him in charge of the whole country.Therefore every evil act against Joseph actually brought him closer and closer to his destiny and blessing.Thus even the evil intended against us turns into good.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Genesis 50:20
20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
6.TRIUMPH
The Lord causes us to triumph when we go through fearful experiences.Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den.Shadrach, Meshach and Abed Nego were thrown into the fire. These were fearful and dangerous experiences but there was a great triumph and honour waiting for them after these experiences.If they had not gone through these experiences they probably would have led very ordinary lives in obscurity.But these experiences brought great triumph and blessing into their lives.The King promoted them and honoured them greatly after these experiences.Thus even fearful experiences work for our good.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Daniel 6:19-28
19 Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions.
20 And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever!
22 My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”
23 Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.
24 And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.
25 Then King Darius wrote:
To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:
Peace be multiplied to you.
26 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.
For He is the living God,
And steadfast forever;
His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed,
And His dominion shall endure to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues,
And He works signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth,
Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Daniel 3:26-30
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire.
27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel[g] and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!
29 Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”
30 Then the king [h]promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.
7.TESTING
The Lord tests us and proves us.These trials and testings can be very painful.But a great blessing is awaiting us when we come out victoriously.God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac.When Abraham proved his obedience God showered great blessings on him and his descendents.Whenever an examination is passed victoriously there is always a promotion to the next higher level.No one can remain in the same level after coming out victoriously in the examination.God has great blessings for us when we come out successfully in the tests that He has for us.Thus even painful testings work for our good.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Genesis 22:15-18
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—
17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
