A Simple Question: Examining My Faith in Romans 8:28

As I tried to go to sleep the other night, somewhere amid the rambling, disjointed thoughts flooding my sleepy brain, I recognized the words of one of my favorite verses of scripture.  I didn't consciously think about Romans 8:28, but it was suddenly just there in my mind: "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."

The familiar words had barely finished processing in my mind when they were followed with a simple question- "Do you know?"

I can't tell you if it was me asking the question or if it was the Holy Spirit, but I pray He will help me to seek out the answer and define it in the next few lines.

Let me start by working backwards through the verse.  I know that I am "called according to His purpose" because I'm saved.  If you are saved, you have been purposefully called by God.  I know that I am of "them that love God".  Although not always put into action the way it should be, I have no doubts about my love for Him.  That brings me to the first part of the verse, and I have to ask myself again, "Do I really know that all things work together for good?"

I feel confident in saying the answer to my question is "yes".  I do know that all things work together for good, meaning I believe it with certainty.  The real question is, "Am I living like I know it?"

The phrase "all things" in this verse could mean literally everything- from my walk to the mailbox to a serious illness.  While I believe the verse is true for "all" circumstances, Paul was writing specifically about persecution.  With that context in mind, I felt the need to examine how I view difficulties in my life.

Knowing that all things work together for good doesn't mean we never hurt or have concern about the difficult times in life.  Our state of salvation doesn't preclude us from the effects of living in a fallen world. Bad things will happen (although I believe we are guarded by His sovereign grace from many bad circumstances).  The beauty of knowing "all things work together for good" is summed up in one word: hope.  We have hope that beauty will be born of brokenness, that silver linings will surface through stress. And we can learn to even be excited when something bad happens, anticipating the good that will come from it.  Sometimes, we may not see the good, but by faith we know it is there, because God's promises are true.

Thankfully, I haven't experienced very many situations in my life that have tested my faith or challenged my belief that something good would be the result.  But I think the lesson for me in my reflections on Romans 8:28 is to be more mindful of opportunities to praise God in all situations.  It's not about learning to see the glass as half full instead of half empty. I'm sure there are plenty of atheist optimists. It's about knowing that God is intentionally acting and working things out in all situations, and about being able to praise Him whether we see the good or not.

Let me leave you with a real-life example of Romans 8:28.  A small, country church, where my husband has ministered several times, was recently vandalized.  On Easter Sunday morning, our friends there, Terry and Ellen, found a swastika spray-painted on the front door.  Now, of course, that was not a good thing. How could it be?  However, the deputy that responded to the call did a wonderful thing- he painted over the vandalism for them.  Our friends were deeply moved by the kind act of the deputy, and Ellen took to Facebook to publicly praise the officer. More than one news station saw the post, and subsequently did interviews with Ellen and the officer, which were aired on multiple stations.  Because Ellen knew God was in control of the situation, she was able to focus on the deputy's good deed, instead of focusing on the wrong done to them.  God even worked it out so the uplifting story would be shared on the news to be an encouragement to many, many people.  The fun part is, God may not be finished working the events "together for good".  Perhaps the best is yet to come from this story. 

Have you been going through a trial?  Are you facing adversity now?  Perhaps the best is yet to come from your story, too.

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Click the following link to see one of the news stories about the church vandalism and the officer's kind deed.
www.wbtv.com/story/35189118/iredell-church-vandalized-on-easter-deputy-grabs-paint-brush