6th June 2023

All things for good

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 (NRSV)

As we start our day, it doesn’t take long for something to not go well. It might be a missed alarm, spilled coffee, an angry interaction, or any number of daily occurrences which we’d say are ‘not good.’ How then can we believe God works all things for good? There’s no way, right? Wrong, there is no human way, but God has made a way through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Romans 8 helps us remember this way of Jesus: full of forgiveness, grace, mercy, love, and relationship. Paul reminds us not to have a mindset of flesh, which is death, but one of the Spirit, which is life and peace (verse 6). We are not obligated to live according to the flesh (verse 12) especially because it cannot compare to what God has in store. Paul is adamant about shifting our focus and perspective away from ourselves and upwards to God, our relationship with him, and his coming glory we’ve yet to experience (verse 18).

This is how we know “all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (verse 28). This doesn’t mean all things we experience are good, for we live in a broken, fallen world. It does mean God is with us in our sorrow, confusion, suffering; bringing his goodness into every heartache we experience, no matter what.

Prayer
Precious Lord, you know our struggles and our desire to experience your good. Help us lean into you and receive life and peace amidst our struggles and daily circumstances. May your life replace our selfish comparisons. Show us, Lord, how you work ALL things for good. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Study by Carrie Osborne

First published on 22 March 2023 in GCI Update Devotionals https://update.gci.org 

About the writer:
Carrie Osborne is a GCI pastor in Chillicothe, OH, USA

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