There are just some verses we love. We frame them and hang them on a wall or stitch them on a pillow. We send them on greeting cards to our friends and family. We quote them when we are looking for encouraging words to leave with people we love. Romans 8:28 is one of those verses.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 ESV).
Isn’t that a wonderful, encouraging, and comforting thought? All things work together for good for those who love God.
But it doesn’t always feel that way, does it?
Sometimes, it seems life comes crashing down upon us, even when our love for God is at its peak. Sometimes, bad things happen to us when we are His children. Sometimes, we see evil people gaining all the good while we suffer with the loss of a loved one, the illness of a friend, or the loss of a job.
Sometimes, the people we love hurl insults at us and impugn our motives. Sometimes, we earnestly try to do something good for someone, and it blows up in our face. Sometimes, a careless word from us or forgotten action causes great pain in others, even though it was the furthest thing from our intentions.
Sometimes, it doesn’t seem that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord.
So, what is Paul trying to say? We have all lived in a sin-filled, broken world long enough to know that sometimes bad things happen to good people. Even the writer of Ecclesiastes pens this well-known truth of life:
“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.
For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 ESV).
Yet, what Paul writes in verse 28 is from the Holy Spirit. It is Truth because God cannot lie. All things do work together for good for those who love God. How do we reconcile this wonderful claim with the realities of life we live?
As with all good Bible study, the context of the overall message is often the best commentary when we are struggling to understand what the text is saying. If we go down just a little further, Paul says something that I believe helps us understand this marvelous Truth.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39 ESV).
Now this is something we really need when things turn south in our lives, isn’t it? When things in life seem unsure, we need something to anchor in. Paul tells us that the love of Jesus is that anchor. Listen to the things that cannot separate us from His love:
Tribulations, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, dangers or swords… none of it can separate us from God’s love. Sometimes, these are the very things people let separate them from God, aren’t they? The thorny and stony heart lets these kinds of things rob the seed that falls upon it. But Jesus’ love is the very thing that causes the good heart to yield 30 times, 60 times, even 100 times the yield.
Paul wasn’t saying bad things will not happen to those who love God. He was saying that even in the presence of things that can rob others of their joy and hope, it is not so for the ones who love God. For those who love God, all things- even terrible, awful things- can work together for good.
This is how the martyr can make the ultimate sacrifice. This is how the parent can lay their child to rest. This is how the jobless man can find faith when his life comes crashing down around him. The good that works together for us is not found in the terrible things we endure. We find it in patience, in faith that grows, in glory given to God, and in perseverance we exhibit.
These things are not trivial. They are of the utmost substance. They allow us to endure unbearable heartache and loss without abandoning hope. They teach us we cannot direct our own steps. They show us that sometimes, we cannot rely on our own bootstraps. We must rely on God.
What does God do for us as we endure the tribulations, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, dangers or swords? He ensures we have what we need to endure. Immediately before telling us that all things- even the terrible, horrible things- work together for good for those who love God, Paul tells us,
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27 ESV).
Yes, God sends His Spirit to help us in our weakness, when even the hard things in life face us. Even when we are so overcome with these things that we are at a loss for words. Even when we are stunned and paralyzed. Even when we are walking in a fog and we just don’t know what to say to God…
The Spirit does. He knows, and He helps.
I absolutely love verse 27. The Spirit is God’s gift to us to aid us in these times. It is- get this- God’s will for the Spirit to intercede for us.
It is God’s will.
This is how much the Father loves us. He ensures we have God the Spirit to intercede for us when we don’t even know what to pray for. It is His will to give us the Spirit for this very purpose. And the love of Jesus is connected to us even during the terrible, horrible things we must endure from time to time.
For those who love God, nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus. He will walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death. We will be inseparable from the love of Jesus. The fullness of the Trinity works together for this very purpose. This is what Paul was telling the Christian Jews and Gentiles in Rome.
This is what Paul is telling us. In fact, this is why he can begin this whole conversation by saying,
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18 ESV).
Something to think about…
In Luke 17, people go to these verses to illustrate the rapture of God’s people.
“I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.
There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” (Luke 17:34-35 ESV).
We want to be taken and not left behind. But when we read Luke and the other Gospels, we see over and over when judgment comes, the one “taken” is cast away from God.
Luke 10 talks about Capernaum being “brought down” into judgment.
The rich man in the same chapter has his soul “required” of him.
In chapter 12, the Master will come in an unexpected time and “put” the evil servant with the unfaithful.
Later in chapter 12, Jesus warns us to make peace before we see the judge lest we be “dragged” before the Judge and “handed over” to the officer, and “put” into prison.
In chapter 13, evil workers are told to “depart” from Jesus and they will be “cast out.”
When it comes to judgement, we want to be left behind. We do not want to be the ones taken.
As Christians who put our faith in Jesus, we can be saved from the wrath to come and from the Judgment of whom all authority has been placed.
When it comes to judgment, we can be left behind and not taken as we yield to King Jesus.
I am in the book of Ezekiel in my Daily Bible reading. The prophet is given a message of coming wrath and judgment, and God has reached the point where there is no remedy. He instructed the angel to execute judgment and not hold back.
How did the people react? God tells us:
“Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’
Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 12:27-28 ESV).
This is similar to the people of our day when we preach of the second coming of Jesus. Peter says,
“knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4 ESV).
In spite of God, who never lies, always giving fair warning well in advance of His coming judgement, evil hearts look into God’s eyes and presume on His loving kindness and patience.
But, as Peter said, the day of the Lord will come.
The sad truth is that there is coming a day for us, as there was in the day of Ezekiel, when God’s patience will come to an end and He says, “Enough.”
Woe to us on that day if we ignore God’s warnings and presume upon His long-suffering. If we are clinging to our sins with the intent of one day turning to the Lord, what a pitiable condition if we have to dwell upon our foolishness for all of eternity because we were too late in answering God’s call.
He loves us. He died for us. He is begging us to choose life and not death.
When our end comes, it will not be God’s fault if we are not found in Him. He has promised coming judgment. He is not a liar. We must be found ready, with our lamps trimmed and bright.
“For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV).
Let it be known: Each one has been warned.
In Luke 8, Jesus heals the demon possessed man by sending a legion of demons into a herd of 2000 pigs that ran off a cliff into the sea and drowned.
When the men of this Gentile town came to see what happened, they feared and begged Jesus to leave their country.
How many of us do this? How many times do we choose the pigs over Jesus?
Are we content to serve Jesus until our livelihood is threatened?
Are we content to serve Jesus until it disrupts what we want to do?
Are we content to serve Jesus as long as we do not have to give up anything we value?
Are our pigs more important than Jesus to us?
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26 ESV).