Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

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.”

Romans 8: 28 (NKJV)

Maybe this is a good day for us all to remember the truth of that verse of scripture.

After all, in the last few days, we have been surprised with the loss of a national figure, some of us aware of the accidental loss of a young mother of five children, and all of us impacted by the usual unexpected stuff which seems to come our way on a day-to-day basis. In the last few years, God has been hitting me over the head with that verse, though—to help me remember that He was there.

It’s a familiar verse we have looked at before, but in the midst of the challenges and uncertainties of the days which unfold before us, we need to make sure we have a good grip upon. Because our tendency is to head toward the exits and wonder which way to go next.

The Apostle Paul wrote it. The same guy who used to be called Saul and who persecuted followers of Christ. Until his conversion experience, that “blinding light” experience which occurred on the Damascus Road.

After that experience and being tapped as a disciple of Christ, we read in various accounts in scripture that Paul’s life was anything that one might describe with the word “good.” He was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, and whipped, slandered, starved, and shipwrecked along with numerous other things happening to him. Good? None of us would have characterized those things with that word.

Yet Paul continued to share with everyone words of hope, conviction, and optimism about what Christ had done—all the good in his life and the lives of others—and all that He would do. Was Paul a lunatic? Maybe, but history doesn’t seem to record that he was. Zealous? Yes. Sold out? Absolutely. And he was fulfilling God’s purpose for him in some of the worst places, in some of the toughest moments, in the most difficult of circumstances and challenges. His fuel for it all came from his Hope. Paul was all about Hope! Hope that came from his relationship with his friend.

Paul knew that God was and had been there with him through it all, behind the scenes, encouraging him and transforming every condition and circumstance into something for his good and for God’s glory.

Notice in the verse Paul says—“we know.” He didn’t say “we hope” or “we feel” or “maybe.” He said “we know.” God’s loving involvement in our lives for good was unquestionable to him, it was an absolute fact. As it is today, for you and for me.

God promises to work out wonderful things in our lives. It’s not a promise of “happiness” or “success” in all things as we might want it to be, or as the world describes that “good” might be. But it is a promise of the fulfillment of the eternal purpose of our lives, eternal life, and of deep satisfaction and fulfillment in the journey of a life that is aligned with God.

And notice one more thing Paul says in that verse—“all things.”

Here’s what we know through our own experiences with God, and having learned through the experiences of Paul and others—“we know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” In the good, the bad, the joyful, the painful, the disappointing, whatever—God works all of those together for good; and good as He defines it, which has to be a whole lot better than any good we can create.

And with that assurance lifting us in the journey along the way, all the way to the end, “we know” that God will use “all things” that we go through to turn heartache into strength, confusion into clarity, doubt into belief, sorrow into joy, and loss into hope.

Believe it—in all things—today, tonight, tomorrow and every day of our lives.

In His Name—Scott

Copyright 2016. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.