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.”

May 3rd, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Although Paul writes “we know that all things work together for good,” more often than not we act like we do not know this great, sweeping truth at all. We all need to ask ourselves this question each time we read this statement, “Do we really know?” This verse tells us that God, in His providence, orchestrates the outcome of every single event in the life of a believer. If we truly embrace this verse, then the word all demands us to accept that even suffering and temptation are working in our lives to accomplish good, both for our immediate and eternal benefit. This does not allow us to only accept that most things or a majority of things or even 99% of things are working together for our good, but all things. All things that seem good, all things that seem unimportant, and all things that seem bad are working for our good.

Probably the clearest and best Scriptural example of this is found in Genesis 50 in the life of Joseph. We remember that Joseph’s brothers were jealous of his relationship with their father. So much so that they finally seized him, threw him in a pit, and then, after arguing over whether they should kill him, decided to sell him into slavery. He was taken to Egypt and sold as a common slave. He was forced to live there for about 24 years. But we are told in Genesis 39:2 that “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man.” God blessed Joseph’s life even when he was falsely accused and thrown in jail for 2 years. God gave him grace, and after releasing him, he rose to a place of prominence in Egypt second only to Pharaoh. Then God’s providence brought his brothers down to Egypt because of a famine. Even though he had the opportunity to take revenge on his brothers, he instead chose to bless them and respond to them in love. Joseph said, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20).

Many times we are tempted to ask why God lets us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for our good! What are we to do when the problems of life seem overwhelming? Hold on to the truth of this verse and wait for God to bring about the good that He has promised us.

“LORD, we do see Your hand in our life circumstances. We need Your perspective on the things that we can only see as problems.”