God Works All Things For Your Good

Church Family: I love a good watch. I have worn a watch ever since I was a freshman in high school. Got to be on time, you know. I have always been mesmerized by a mechanical watch. It is amazing to watch the mainspring, balance wheel, hairspring, escapement, oscillator, gear train, dial train and other parts work so precisely to make seconds always be seconds and minutes always be minutes and hours always be hours. It is an amazing piece of engineering art that you can wear on your wrist. But if you look closely at the gear train of the watch you will see some of the gears and parts are moving in the opposite direction of all the other parts and yet trustworthy time prevails. The watch is filled with individual parts that are turning in opposite directions of each other. You may think that they are working against each other, but they are not. They are working together perfectly, one gear this way and one that way working together for the same beautiful end, accurate, trustworthy time. And the watchmaker gets great glory when this happens.

Lovers of God have been given His great promise that He works the same way in our lives. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). As one who has been called according to His purpose, you will experience what seems to be the gears of life working against you. Suffering, hardship, persecution, weakness, sickness and a thousand other difficult things seem to be a daily occurrence. It is easy to think that God is working against you through these very difficult experiences, but He has promised you that He is not. He promises to all who love Him that He is working out everything to their good. He does not say that these experiences are good. He says that He will work them for good. As lovers of God, we alone have the promise that He is working every single thing that ever happens in our lives for ultimate good. Nothing will touch your life that is not under the control and direction of your loving heavenly Father.

This does not mean that whatever happens to you is always good. This does not mean that the suffering, tragedy and evil that befalls you is good. This does not mean that you will even understand why God permits tragedy to come upon you. But this does absolutely mean that you can bank on the promise that every weakness, hardship, insult, persecution, suffering, illness, tragedy, loss, and mystery of life is being providentially worked out perfectly for your absolute good. God is taking care of it. He is seeing to it. He is at work when the gears of life seem to be opposing each other.

So the real question is, do you love God and have you been called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28)? This epic promise of God making all things work together for our good is only given to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. The dividing line between the Christian and the unbeliever is not whether you believe in God, but do you love the One true God of the Bible and are you letting Him work His purpose in your life. Do you want to love God? Know that He has loved you first in Jesus Christ and start loving Him back in obedience (1 John 4:19; John 14:21; 15:10).

Enjoy this great promise today. Look at your life with spiritual eyes toward the loving, sovereign God of the Bible and you will come to the conclusion that He is working all things for your ultimate good.