8:28
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
And we know that . . . . not we feel, or we realize, or we come to the conclusion by the evidence presented. We know. It is a fact that we are given the choice to accept or neglect but that does not affect the truth of it. It isn’t swayed by our present circumstances, our past history, or even our hopes and wishes for the future. It is something we know to be true and a foundational basis for how we will then live our lives.
God causes . . . noone else is given billing in this statement. The responsibility, the power, the prerogative, all falls on God. We have no part, nor does the world. We establish superiority right off and it isn’t in us. It’s not only His will but also His work to accomplish what follows.
all things . . . . not just the large things be them “good” or “bad”, but all things. The insignificant things we overlook, or even the things we choose not to do or simply ignore. All things is overwhelmingly inclusive. It takes a pretty broad look at your life and begins to give purpose to each little puzzle piece that doesn’t seem to fit into the grand scheme of what you think the picture should look like. With all things part of the picture we know that nothing is left to chance, nothing is forgotten or worthless.
to work together for good . . . Do you notice that the end result is “good” but never does it promise that each individual thing will be “good”. The completion of all things as they work together is good. And what is the good? Not good determined by this world or by me but going back to the one to whom responsibility falls it’s the good of God, specifically that we will become more like Christ. The funny thing is that on some days I will honestly say I don’t always count that as good. My good rests in me in my comfort in the fulfillment of my wants, but His good for us is based solely on how much we begin to look like His Son. That is the good all things work toward, that is the good He causes, that is the good that we know will occur.
to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes . . . not only do we find the specific audience this “good” is for, but we see the reasoning behind the good. Those who love God, funny that it isn’t the other way around, Paul doesn’t say those loved by God, but those who love God. It puts us in a place to make our attitude match our heart and commitment. If I love God, would I not trust Him and see that His work in my life is for good? And then there is the why behind the what. Why do all things work together for good? Because we are called according to His purposes. It begins with His calling and ends with His purposes. Again not our purposes, not our definition of good, but His, God’s.
Over the last week or so this verse has played over and over again in my head and the words became bigger, the truth of what it is saying, what it is proclaiming became huge to me. I’ll have to continue those thoughts tomorrow.
Romans 8:28
And we know that . . . . not we feel, or we realize, or we come to the conclusion by the evidence presented. We know. It is a fact that we are given the choice to accept or neglect but that does not affect the truth of it. It isn’t swayed by our present circumstances, our past history, or even our hopes and wishes for the future. It is something we know to be true and a foundational basis for how we will then live our lives.
God causes . . . noone else is given billing in this statement. The responsibility, the power, the prerogative, all falls on God. We have no part, nor does the world. We establish superiority right off and it isn’t in us. It’s not only His will but also His work to accomplish what follows.
all things . . . . not just the large things be them “good” or “bad”, but all things. The insignificant things we overlook, or even the things we choose not to do or simply ignore. All things is overwhelmingly inclusive. It takes a pretty broad look at your life and begins to give purpose to each little puzzle piece that doesn’t seem to fit into the grand scheme of what you think the picture should look like. With all things part of the picture we know that nothing is left to chance, nothing is forgotten or worthless.
to work together for good . . . Do you notice that the end result is “good” but never does it promise that each individual thing will be “good”. The completion of all things as they work together is good. And what is the good? Not good determined by this world or by me but going back to the one to whom responsibility falls it’s the good of God, specifically that we will become more like Christ. The funny thing is that on some days I will honestly say I don’t always count that as good. My good rests in me in my comfort in the fulfillment of my wants, but His good for us is based solely on how much we begin to look like His Son. That is the good all things work toward, that is the good He causes, that is the good that we know will occur.
to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes . . . not only do we find the specific audience this “good” is for, but we see the reasoning behind the good. Those who love God, funny that it isn’t the other way around, Paul doesn’t say those loved by God, but those who love God. It puts us in a place to make our attitude match our heart and commitment. If I love God, would I not trust Him and see that His work in my life is for good? And then there is the why behind the what. Why do all things work together for good? Because we are called according to His purposes. It begins with His calling and ends with His purposes. Again not our purposes, not our definition of good, but His, God’s.
Over the last week or so this verse has played over and over again in my head and the words became bigger, the truth of what it is saying, what it is proclaiming became huge to me. I’ll have to continue those thoughts tomorrow.
posted by Katie @ 3:38 PM
5 Comments:
Dude. This so echoes my entry today: that God works together all things for good.
Except mine isn't quite written the same as yours. It's more...obscure.
Katie, would you mind if I found you a gig writing for a Christian magazine? Like, you could TOTALLY be writing a column.
I would not mind at all Jes. You go put those networking skills to work and let me know. And thanks.
Fabulous exposition, my friend. I'm going to give you and honorable mention on my blog and direct people here.
I may have to let this one sink in some. Even in light of this, it still seems that just plain old stubbornness keeps the truth from changing circumstances....at least current events. Thanks for posting this.
I like how you broke that all down. Good points... good job.
There is that word again... good.
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