1-10 | All Things Work for Good [PART 1]
So What Am I Doing Wrong?
“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.” - Romans 8:28
My Favorite Chapter in the Bible
Romans 8 may be my favorite chapter in the entire Bible. There’s so much good stuff in there! For the preacher, it can provide several weeks worth of material and maybe a few sermon series. One of my favorites is verse 28 (quoted above). I’ve preached on that passage more than a few times.
God causes everything to work together for the good…for my good. I’ve loved to preach on that one!
Then I start hearing your stories. Then I start adding stories of my own. Life is not always working together for the good. Life’s big fan is set on high.1 Things are not getting any better. Maybe they’re getting worse.
One of two responses is common…
Faith in Jesus doesn’t work. The Bible isn’t true, so I’m out.
I must be doing something wrong if it’s not working for me.
While the former happens quite a bit, I think the latter is far more common.
What Kind of God?
I’ve had too many conversations over the years where people say, “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong for things not to be working out” or, “I must be doing something wrong to be going through this again.” The feeling is that God is withholding good and punishing for some reason…we just don’t know what the reason is.
So we commit to doing more. Going to church more, reading the Bible more, serving more, giving more, playing only worship music in the car. We might even invite a friend to church in an effort to fix whatever it is we’re doing wrong.
You know what I’m talking about.
All the while, God is withholding good and allowing hardship. Why? God only knows. If you don’t know, he isn’t going to tell you.
Wow.
If that God were human, what would you think of him? What if he acted that way as your boss? If he were an earthly father, his kids would grow up in therapy. Do you really believe God is like that?
Conditions
I’ve actually heard it preached that way. If things don’t seem to be working for the good in life, it’s time to take a look at how much you love God. Are you living according to his purposes for your life? Some preachers like to preach blessing and have a tough time reconciling the hurt and difficulty we go through. So it becomes your fault.
Conditional. Perfection becomes the standard. And more weight gets heaped on your shoulders. But to believe that is to contradict Jesus and other scriptures.
I guess it doesn’t present well to just mourn with those who mourn, welcome God’s presence and encourage people in their faith. To our credit, we preachers desperately want to fix spiritual issues and offer answers. But some of this stuff doesn’t have answers or explanations. They just are and our response is to just be. God is present. And when he is present, it’s going to be okay. In some strange way, it already is.
The rest of Romans 8 doesn’t have anything to do with our efforts, how good we are or the measure of our love. It starts with the fact that there is no condemnation because we belong to Christ and his Spirit lives in us. That Spirit overcomes our sins, our fears, and carries us through our suffering (the same suffering that makes us think we’re doing something wrong). There is no mention of our performance. No talk of being a better saved person.
Every Little Thing is Gonna Be Alright
2 That junk you’re going through right now? It sucks. And I’m sorry. I wish there was something to say or do that could make it better for you right now. I want to take a moment to mourn whatever it is with you.
What I do know is God is near. I also know that you are loved, right now, just the way you are. And because God is faithful—because he loves you—this thing will inevitably work for the good because he is good. No conditions. No prerequisites on your part.
I italicized work on purpose in the previous paragraph. There is more to this amazing passage of scripture, but you’re going to have to wait until next week to read about it. There is so much more to “all things” and how God works. I can’t wait until next Tuesday!
In the meantime, please rest in God’s grace, knowing that you don’t have to do everything right for God to be pleased with you. Struggles and trials are not a sign that you’re failing or that you’re doing something wrong. These are what Jesus said would come. Sucks, I know, but that’s life sometimes.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
‘For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” -Romans 8:35-37
In all these things. In.
(Seriously…don’t you just love Romans 8?)
Click the link to learn more about Life’s Big Fan. It’s from a previous post.
I recently watched the Bob Marley movie and can’t get Three Little Birds out of my head!