ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER

Have you experienced some good things in your life?

What about challenges? Have you faced any challenges or difficulties that you can remember?

Today, we are going to look at what the Bible says about how good things and challenging things actually relate and work together for God’s purpose in our lives.
Romans 8:28
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”

Let’s look at this verse for a few minutes and really get the context of what Paul was saying here. He wanted the Romans to know that God, who didn’t cause their suffering, would cause all their circumstances to cooperate with His divine plan—for their ultimate good. Paul is not saying that all things are good. He is saying that all things are turned by God and used for good. This is really important to understand because it gives us a different perspective on the difficult situations that we face in this life here on earth.

The good to which Paul referred was not the temporary blessings of good health, wealth, or even success, but being “conformed to the image of God’s Son.” (v. 29)
Romans 8:29
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

​God is most concerned about where we will spend eternity. He is so concerned that He sent His Son Jesus to die for us so that we could spend eternity in Heaven.

Yes, we all go through different things and sometimes very challenging things but the promise that God causes everything to work for our good is for us. It’s a promise for every child of God who has given their life to Christ.
Today, I would like to look at 3 things for us remember when we face challenging situations in life:
 

1. God is good all the time

 
1 Chronicles 16:34
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
 
I remember when I was first saved. There was a peace and a joy that I had never experience before, and it was amazing. God radically transformed my life, I was serving in various areas, I got my first car, I graduated college, and I met my future husband. Life was pretty good and sweet!
 
Fast forward a couple of years, on my most favourite day of the year, my father passed away at the young age of 48 unexpectedly. It was a heart attack and he was instantly gone, just like that.
 
My life that was going pretty good had all of sudden been shaken, especially since I was still growing in my faith. It was a difficult thing to go through. I questioned God, I grieved, but I also answered this question by His strength:
 
Was God still good? Yes. He absolutely was!
 
But the thing that I was going through definitely did not feel good. But God was still good. He is good all the time. Even as Christians, our lives are not perfect but we have a God who gives us perfect peace in the midst of very difficult situations.
 
God was working on my character. God was teaching me to trust in Him no matter what. God was drawing me closer to Him and to depend on Him for all things.  

       2.  God is always faithful
What does it mean to be faithful?
True to one’s word, promises, vows, reliable, and trusted.
 
Deuteronomy 7:9
“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”
 
If we were to all share of how God has been faithful to us time after time, we would need quite a bit of time to do that. It is important to reflect on God’s faithfulness in our lives.
 
Remember what Joseph went through when he was sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph’s brothers made a bad choice by selling their brother into slavery, but Joseph chose to believe God was with him. God took the awful thing his brothers did and not only saved the nation of Israel but also many other nations as well. God had a good plan for Joseph, and He was faithful in making it come to pass.
 
Joseph spoke about how God used the bad for good in this verse:
 
Genesis 50:20
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
 
 
        3.   God works out all things for our good 
Have you ever had brisket?
 
If you haven’t, I encourage you to try it. It’s one of my favourite meals and if seasoned and cooked properly, it is delicious and so tender.
 
Brisket is one of my family traditions and as delicious as it is, there is a process for it to taste the way it does.  It needs to be marinated for a few days with a few special ingredients, turned around, cooked, put in the fridge, sliced, and then cooked again. Doesn’t that sound delicious?
 
See, before the brisket is marinated and cooked, it actually doesn’t look appetizing at all. It is simply a bit piece of raw meat. All the ingredients WORK TOGETHER to get that beautiful cooked brisket. We need to wait until the ingredients work together to achieve something they could not achieve individually.
 
Ok, now let’s talk dessert since we just talked dinner.
 
Dessert has always been a part of my family’s meals and that couldn’t be more true today. We love our dessert.
 
Take a strawberry shortcake for instance. It has fresh cream, strawberries, custard, whipped cream…I could go for some right now!
 
You see, eating the ingredients on their own would not taste good. Raw eggs, baking powder, flour, etc. Doesn’t sound very tasty, but when the ingredients WORK TOGETHER, something beautiful happens.
 
Let’s look at this verse again:
 
Romans 8:28
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”
 
Just like the brisket and baking ingredients aren’t very tasty on their own, when the ingredients work together the finished product is very delicious.
 
It is the same in our lives with everything that we go through. Some things are good and some are challenging. But God says that He causes everything to work for good for us.
 
In closing, let’s look at what our Lord and Saviour did for the whole world.
 
For someone who doesn’t know Christ and has not accepted Him, this is where it all begins. The Bible says that God so loved the world that He gave His Only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
 
It all starts at the cross.
 
The cross was a terrible way to die. It was painful and even Jesus Himself said these words to God the Father:
 
Luke 22:42
“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.”
 
The Bible then goes on to say that an angel appeared to Jesus and He was strengthened. Jesus than in agony prayed more earnestly and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
 
As difficult as it was to go through what Jesus went through, God reminds us that He can take the worst situation (dying on a cross) and turn it into the best (the redemption of God’s people).
 
All things have a purpose in our lives because they all help us be transformed into Christlikeness.
This is how Paul ends in Romans chapter 8:

​Romans 8:38-39
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God works all things for our good and nothing can separate us from God’s Love which is in Jesus Christ.
In whatever situation we face, let us remember that God works out everything for our good and nothing can separate us from His Love.