Romans 8:28 – “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.”  NKJV

 

This is one of the most powerful and seemingly often misunderstood passages in the New Testament.  Realizing that I cannot do it justice in such as short space I want to break this down and hit the high points of the truth being presented for our edification, encouragement and comfort.  One sentence that carries life changing truth if we can grasp it, receive it and apply it in our daily lives.

• AND WE KNOW…

That makes it a family matter and somewhat a family secret or for those who are initiated into the family of God.  WE is speaking of believers for that is the audience to whom Paul was speaking or writing.  It is a collective ‘WE’ and applies to ALL BELIEVERS of that era and every generation to follow.  It is a message to family, fellow believers or The Body of Christ.

• ALL THINGS… 

How much is ALL?  What does that encompass?  All things would cover everything that comes into our lives and we encounter.  I do not know how much more comprehensive you can get than that.  So WE KNOW something about ALL THINGS, but what?

• WORK TOGETHER…

The believer knows that all things work together or in harmony for a purpose in our lives.  The composite of ALL THINGS are working toward a specific purpose and has a determined objective.  God is using ALL THINGS to produce something for the believer, but what?

• FOR GOOD…

Now we are getting somewhere.  The believer knows that all things are being formed together or compiled together for good.  Please understand it did not say that ALL THINGS were GOOD but that ALL THINGS were WORKING TOGETHER for GOOD.  The finished product is what should come into view here.  The end result will be good not that each individual item is good in and of itself.  Truthfully, we know that some things in our lives and our experiences are anything but good in themselves but when mixed together will every other thing the finished product is GOOD.

• TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD… CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE… 

Now we are getting to the nitty gritty of this nugget of truth.  If we love God and are called of God (all believers are) then we can know that everything in our lives and experience are being mixed together by the Spirit of God for good.  That is powerful.

If you can receive it I like to illustrate it in this manner:

It is like mother or grandma baking a chocolate cake from scratch.  She carefully takes the various ingredients for the purpose of producing a moist delicious chocolate cake.  In that process there are some individual items that by themselves would be less than tasty or good.  I personally would not want to sit down to a bowl of flour, baking powder or soda, the bitter baking chocolate, eggs or even the sugar used to sweeten the cake mix.  The milk might be okay to drink by itself but just the salt would not.  So we find that there are numerous ingredients that are less than desirable but she would take the flour blend in the eggs, milk, chocolate, baking powder or soda while adding a pinch of salt, etc. and once the ingredients are in the bowl she would beat them until they blended together.  (Remind you of life?)  Then once she had blended them thoroughly where they were indistinguishable from each other and no longer isolated individual items she would place them in a baking pan and put it in the oven and bake it a high heat for a period of time.  (Isn’t that just like life?  Just when you think you can’t take any more the heat is turned up.)  Then once the proper time has transpired she removes the cake from the oven and applies the icing and you have a wonderful chocolate cake.  That is what God is doing in our lives.  The FINISHED PRODUCT IS WHAT HE IS AFTER.

All things are working together for good!  Therefore we can take heart that no matter what we are facing we can know that this with all the other things that have and will transpire in our lives are being used by God to bring us to that place of ultimate victory He calls GOOD!

            God bless you as you go through your day!