Episode #013 God Works Everything Together for Good. Really??

How can you believe that "God works everything together for good" when what you're going through doesn't feel good? In this talk, you’ll learn:

• What not to say to someone who's hurting
• How to interpret this verse of Scripture when things go from bad to worse
• The true extent of this promise
• How to ensure you qualify for it

You’ll also uncover the surprising connection between your identity and this incredible promise.

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Transcript

Craig (00:00.174)
Welcome to this episode of the Trudy Master of Peace podcast. My name is Craig Walker and I'm thrilled to be with you today to explore what does it mean that God will work everything together for good. It's a great verse. We love to quote it when we're going through hard times. By the way, we hate it when someone else quotes it to us when we're going through hard times, don't we? And before we jump into this talk, I do want to answer that question. But before I do, let me give you some really, really good news. I just finished the rewrite of my book. It's titled Shameless Living the Life that God

created you to love. I think this book is going to be the crown jewel of my 45 plus years in ministry. All that I've learned, all that God has taught me about living the good life, the life Jesus came to give us, I put it together in this one book and I think God is really gonna use it in a powerful way to set the captives free. So pray for me as I'm in this final push. They tell me it can take up to six to nine months.

to have it ready for publication, which means it should be ready by the end of the year or early next spring at the very, very latest. All right, that's enough on the book. I want to jump into our topic at hand now that God causes everything to work together for good. What does it mean? How do we qualify for that to make sure that we really do see the good that God's going to do? Let me just mention something else. How does this work into our topic at hand that I deal with all the time? Identity. Yeah.

Well, stick with me to the very end and you'll see this all makes perfect sense. All right, how do you process that God's gonna work everything together for good when you're going through some really, really bad times? I mean, times like there's someone in your life, you maybe, someone you really love. They've just been diagnosed with stage four cancer. What do you do or what's that verse mean to us when you're planning for retirement next year and then you get notified by your bank that

Someone has stolen 40 years of retirement savings and your bank account is now zero. And this is a true story, by the way, I was just interviewing one of my clients and he shared with me that his in -laws had just been scammed out of $700 ,000 worth of retirement savings. Incredible, but it's true. How can that, you know, turn out for good? They're not getting that money back. How is this going to work out for good?

Craig (02:25.582)
How does it work out for good when you discover that your spouse who travels for business, works in other states, also has another spouse and other children in another state? What does it mean? What's this verse mean to us when you experience a career ending injury with no other means to provide for yourself or for those you love? What does it mean that, you know, to a couple that has been trying for years to have children and now they've just been diagnosed with infertility?

How does that verse mean? What does it mean and how do we apply it and how does it encourage us when we go through times like that? I wanna share with you four observations that I think will help you and we'll move from the general, very, very general to the most specific at the end. So stick with me all the way to the end. The most general, number one, this is the first observation I'd give you. God is going to work everything together for good. This is really a bad thing to say when people are.

reeling from bad news. Don't lead with that verse. Maybe you never say it. It just requires too much on the part of the person hearing you to be able to receive that well. It just sounds trite. Apply the principle of less for more. Less words, more encouragement. Just say something like, I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this. I'm sorry you're going through this.

Just tell them, I'm here for you. If I can do anything, let me know. I'm praying for you. And then just be willing to stick around them and help them get through it and to discover the good that God's doing without you telling them. You don't like people quoting it to you in hard times. I don't like people quoting it to me in hard times. None of us do. So let's just agree that's not a good verse to use. It's true. It's absolutely true. God does cause all things to work together for good. It's just a bad thing to say.

Not helpful. Number two, here's the second statement. This is a little more specific. Now we're getting to the point of what you showed up for. This is what it doesn't mean. You need to hear this. It doesn't mean that God is going to work out your situation the way you want and when you want Him to do it. Okay? That's just not the way God works. He's God, so He's probably got a better plan than anything you or I could ever, ever come up with. So hear me out. Optimism. This is a wonderful thing.

Craig (04:50.606)
But when you place your hope in your optimistic expectations, you're setting yourself up for incredible disappointment. You know, there's a verse in the Proverbs says, hope deferred makes the heart sick. You're setting yourself up to be really, really sick. In the book, Good to Great, Jim Collins shares an interview that he had with Admiral Jim Stockdale. Admiral Stockdale had spent eight years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War in a place called Hanoi Hilton. You've probably heard.

He was tortured over 20 times during his imprisonment. He lived throughout his imprisonment with no set release date. He had no idea if he would ever live through it, survive the ordeal, and be reunited with his family again. No idea. Yet, he did survive. Now, Jim Collins asked the Admiral, how did you survive? Stockdale replied, listen to this. He said, I never lost.

faith in the end of the story. I never lost faith that I would survive and this would be a defining event in my life. Get a grip on that. I never lost faith and he did survive. He was reunited with his family. This did become a defining event in his life. He became a national hero and he would say now I would not trade that experience for the world. I wouldn't.

That's an incredible statement. You say, wait a minute, what about optimism? Isn't that optimism? No, there's a difference. Collins asked the Admiral, he said, well, he said, you got out, but who didn't survive? Who didn't make it through the ordeal? The Admiral paused and said, Jim, that's easy. It's the optimist. The optimist are those who said,

We're going to be out by Christmas. And Christmas came and Christmas went. And then they said, we're going to be out by Easter. And Easter would come and Easter would go. And then we're going to be out by Thanksgiving. And then Christmas again. And then Easter again. And then after a while, they died of a broken heart.

Craig (07:08.59)
I need to say something that I know it has an edge to it. I don't mean it to be sharp. It's probably going to feel like I'm yanking the rug out from under you right now. I don't think that's what's going on. It's helping us get a real understanding. You need to hear this. God may not give you your job back. That job you lost because someone lied about you, he may not. God may not heal you.

from your illness.

That may not be the good that he has planned to do. God may not allow you to conceive a child. God may not heal your broken marriage. Not always do other people cooperate with God's plan. He isn't going to make you prettier, smarter, or more athletic. He's not. But listen to this. Just because God does not work out your situation the way you want, when you want,

does not mean that your situation won't and can't work out for a way that you will call good.

That's an incredible thought, it's true though. It means that...

Craig (08:29.454)
your situation may not work out the way you had in mind, but it can still be something you will call good. Now, if that discourages you, what I'm going to say next ought to encourage you, okay? Romans 8 .28, just quoting you again. And we know that God causes everything to work together for good. Now, in your mind, underline that word everything. It's not some things

It's not even sometimes. It's rather God causes everything to work together for good. The word everything is a translation of the Greek word that means all. Do you know what all literally means in the Greek? It means all, everything. So that includes your loss of career. It includes your financial disaster. It includes infertility. It includes your own personal failures, your own personal mistakes. It even includes

the dumb things that you've done, as well as disease, divorce, and even death. God causes all, underline that, all things to work together for good. Now here's the fourth and the final thing I want to tell you, that it's a conditional promise, okay? I have a suggestion. This is just a suggestion. Rather than trying to dictate the good that you want God to do and when you want Him to do it in your circumstances,

Spend your time making sure that you qualify for the promise so that you'll know that everything in your life that happens, good or bad, is going to work out for good. Okay? There are two conditions that you want to make sure that you qualify for. Number one is that you love God. If you love God, he said you can count on it, love God. Now, how do you know if you love God or not? Jesus tells us. John 14, 21, he said, those who accept my commandments and obey them, they are the ones that love me.

In other words, when push comes to shove in your life, you know what you want but you see clearly what God wants. Which one are you going to do? If you have a habit of over overriding your desires for God's will, then you can say, I know that I love God. That's a wonderful thing. So make sure that you at least meet the first qualification. Now here's the second. You love God, but secondly, you live for God's purposes.

Craig (10:53.198)
What does it mean to live for God's purposes? This is really exciting. There are two ways that people like to look at the verse. And now, we're coming to the point now where I tell you why this relates to identity. There are two ways to look at this verse to live for God's purpose. One is the religious way. The religious way says, read your Bible, memorize your verses, pray your prayers, go to church, don't drink beer, don't watch movies that normalize violence, use foul language, and have sexually immoral content.

Whatever. And don't forget, by the way, to bake cookies and take them to your neighbors who are lost and invite them to church. Volunteer at food pantries. Serve at homeless shelters. And there's probably a whole lot more that you can add to the list, but you kind of get the idea. That's the religious way to live for God's purposes. That's what we would say. But I don't think it's the right way. It's the religious way. Here's the right way. It's the way you and I should really think about it. When you think about

doing what pleases God. Let me just say quickly, those things that I just mentioned, they're wonderful if they're done for the right reason. When you think about doing what pleases God, think about giving yourself completely to God to live for His glory. That's the standard. I give myself completely to God to live for His glory. So you live as one who's united with Christ. That's where you live...

in such a way that you see yourself as joined with Christ Jesus. In other words, what Christ did for you, you understand that God counts that as though you did it. In other words, when Christ died on the cross, God counts it as though you died on the cross. So you are dead to sin. When Christ was resurrected to life, God counts it as though you were resurrected to life too. And now you can live your new life in Christ. Now, when you live like that,

and you're giving yourself completely to God by His grace, which I just described. Paul says this, this is Ephesians 2 ,7. So, and God did all that, saved you, like what I just said, so that all future ages, He can point to you as an example of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us and all that He has done for us who are united, joined with Christ Jesus. You get it?

Craig (13:15.886)
Having made you and saved you, Paul says now, God wants to point to you to show off his amazing grace. He steps onto the stage like an artist. He's created you. He made you before time began. Now he's saved you by his grace. Now with the spotlight on you, having received his grace, coming to know him, you experience union with Christ, the spotlight shining on you and God like an artist.

rips the cover off his work of art, he steps towards you with hands extended, palms turned up, and announces to the watching world, ta -da, ta -da. Your God's ta -da. You are a unique creation to be you, no one else, no pretending, no mask wearing, no being anyone else, just be in yourself with all your flaws and all your good qualities and everything together, living by God's.

When you live like that, you're living as one who loves God and one who lives for God's purposes to show Him off. Reading your Bible, praying, memorizing verses, staying away from evil, doing these wonderfully good things. They're great things when they're all done to display the greatness of God.

That's why Jesus said in Matthew 5 -16, let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father. God doesn't want you to live in such a way that people praise you. And they will. That's a normal product or byproduct of it. But he really wants people to point to him and say, go God or yay God for what you've done in this person's life. When you live like that, you can count

that God is going to work everything together for good. I can't help but think of this passage without thinking of Joseph, Jacob's son. Joseph had been born created with a dream that he would one day be a great ruler and even his brothers would bow down to him. But then Joseph is hated by his brothers. He's sold into slavery.

Craig (15:31.022)
taken down to Egypt where he's falsely accused, then later put in prison and spends the later part of his life mostly in prison. And you think that all is lost, nothing good can come out of this. This is the worst that you could possibly imagine.

The nation of Israel, or excuse me, the entire world comes under such a severe famine. Everyone is having to come to Egypt where Joseph has now been promoted and he's the governor of all Egypt. His brothers arrive. They bow before him thinking he's going to execute them, shaking in their sandals. Joseph said, chill guys, chill. You meant this for evil, but God meant it for good. God works.

everything together for good. Recently on a coaching call one of my clients said, Craig I was sitting in church on Sunday we're singing this song and very familiar song and you know it we can trust God because God never fails, He never fails, He never fails. He said I found myself sitting there wondering what does that mean that God never fails? Maybe doubting, maybe worrying. He thought about his brother who had taken his own life because of depression.

He said, what does it mean? What did that verse mean to my brother that God never fails? He said, what's that verse mean to me? You know, I want a job that lets me live for purpose. I want to make a difference for the kingdom of God. What's that verse mean to me? And so far, nothing's opened up. What's that verse mean? God never fails.

Craig (17:10.51)
I thought about it for a minute and I said, I have an answer for you. And then I thought about it a little longer and I said, no, I don't have an answer. I have the answer. Your need and my need, our greatest need in life is to see God's love. To be astounded by it, to be blown away by it. Because when we see God's love, you begin to trust in God's leadership in a way that you rely on His grace.

Craig (17:39.79)
You see that when you're inadequate for the fight that God is always adequate for you, His grace is enough to make up for any weakness, any shortcoming you have. And regardless of your circumstances, regardless of what's happening in your life, you will prevail. And you, this event, this bad thing will become a defining moment in your life. Why? Because God always works everything.

together for good. Hey, I hope this has encouraged you. It's given you a better way to hold on to this verse and to apply it to your life. Hope it's encouraged you as it has me. If you have something that you would like to add to this talk, please leave it in a comment. If you have a question, send it to me through email if you like. Let's start a conversation. I want to help you live that life that God created you to love. Thanks again for joining me. I'll see you again next time.