God is Working All Things for Good

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Transcript

Welcome And A Surprising Story

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Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in the Word. I'm Ronnie Cooksie. Somerset Mahom, the English writer, once wrote a story about a janitor at St. Peter's Church in London. One day, a young vicar discovered that the janitor was illiterate and he fired him. Jobless, the man invested his meager savings in a tiny shop where he prospered. He bought another, expanded, and ended up with a chain of stores worth several hundred thousand dollars at the time. One day the man's banker said, You've done really well for an illiterate, but where do you think you'd be if only you could read and write? Well, replied the man, I'd be the janitor of Saint Peter's Church in Neville Square.

Romans 8 Promise And Its Limits

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There are things that take place in our life that at the moment don't look good. But God reminds us today in Romans chapter eight, verses twenty eight and twenty nine that we can't always see the end of the story. And it says to us here in verse twenty eight and twenty nine, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose, to those whom he foreknew he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. I interrupt this positive moment to remind ourselves that this promise is not for everyone. There are qualifiers attached to the promise that limit its scope says that this is for those who love God and are the called according to his purpose, those who have come to know Christ as Savior. I also caution that we who are believers, if we are choosing to walk a path of sin, not caring that the Lord is convicting us and reminding us, we can't attach blame to God for the consequences of our sin. But even in all of this, if you're not a believer, God is still providing for you and blessing you with another day of life, and believers who are in rebellion to the Lord, God is also sending results and consequences of your sin because he loves you and wants to bring you back to him.

Hard Things God Can Redeem

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Does it say that all things are in themselves good? No. There are things that are not good. Someone mistreating you is not in itself good. Losing a loved one is not good, losing your job, all of these things. But God will use them for good. Was it a good thing when Joseph's brothers sold him into Egypt as a slave? No. But it worked together for good. He was able to provide food for the entire nation of Israel during a famine. In Philippians 1, we see Paul imprisoned for sharing the gospel. Was that good? No. But God used his imprisonment to spread the gospel further than it would have been. You may have a flat tire and it doesn't feel very good. It could be, we don't ever know, some of these things. God could have kept you off the road when a big truck lost control and swerved into what would have been your lane. What about your life, your situation? Is there any way that you can say to God, God, even though I can't see what you're doing, I choose to trust that this too will work together for good.

The Real Good Becoming Like Christ

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It says the good in verse 29 is what? Is that we become like Jesus. Now, preacher, I thought you were telling me some encouraging things. I mean, I it sounds noble to be like Christ, but I had a little bit more in mind. Well, we have allowed ourselves to be so brainwashed to think that Jesus' life was dull and that the life that's full of comforts and pleasures is where it's all at. And the reality is the most joyful, at peace, contented person who ever walked the face of the earth was our Lord Jesus Christ. And so he has, if you've come to know him as Savior, he has predestined that you would enter the workshop of becoming more like Christ. To conform means with form inward, not merely outward, that from the inside out, you would be becoming more and more like Christ. And what will become of you if you choose to view conformity with Christ as the greatest good? You'll begin to live in the blessings of walking with Him every day of your life, and you will never turn back, you will never be sorry. Could you today tell God, God, I'm choosing to trust you because of this situation in my life. It doesn't feel good, but I know you're using it to draw me closer to you, which is the very best thing that could ever happen to me. You'll learn things that you couldn't have read in a book, you'll learn things by walking deeply

Choosing Trust In Your Situation

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with God. And the depth of your misery, the depth of your pain is no match for the depth of his love, concern, care, providence, watch over

Closing Blessing And Next Time

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you. God bless you today, and I look forward to seeing you for the remainder of this beautiful chapter eight next time.