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Romans 8:28- Trials in This Life

When you ask people what their favorite book of the Bible is, there are a variety of common answers. Over the past few years, one of the most popular answers I have heard is the book of Romans. The book of Romans contains so many good nuggets of truth, as do all books of the Bible. It is known for containing pieces that can be put together to explain the truth of the gospel to the Western World.  Many people have written sermons and devotionals on many of the verses and ideals that seem to pop off the page for every seasoned believer as they read the book. However, one of the more common verses talked about in this book is Romans 8:28. 

Romans 8:28 reminds us believers that God is in Control and that He will work everything out for good. However, that is not all that can be learned from this one verse. In fact, that is not what should be the focus of this verse. In the ESV, the verse reads "For God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." Some of the key words in this passage seem to be ignored when this is talked about. It is not about how everything in OUR individual lives will work out for good, but that everything in God's eternal plan will work out for Good. Captial G. God's understanding of Good, which is way more powerful than what we humans think is good for us here on earth. 

Not only is it important to understand that this passage is talking about what God considers Good, but we need to understand that the good is good for those who are "called according to His purpose" and those who "love Him". What does it mean to love God? That one is easier to answer as the Bible clearly spells it out: we need to love Him with everything we have (Matthew 22:37), by keeping His commandments (John 14:15), and by loving one another (1 John 4:7-11) to name a few. What does it mean to be 'called according to His purpose'? This is a little harder to answer. GotQuestions.org has a well-written answer that goes into more of the detail about what 'called' and 'purpose' mean, but the important piece to understand is that to be 'called according to His purpose' means that you are a child of God. To put the two ideas together, this means that for this verse to even slightly apply one must be a child of God and seeking to walk in fellowship with Him. 

I mean, do you think a good father would encourage a son or daughter to continue living in a way that pulls them away from the father? Would a son or daughter be able to rightly come to the father and ask for a blessing on a choice they are about to make, or a financial situation that they have to deal with, that will push them farther away from the father they are asking help from? That does not make logical sense, even to us fallible human beings! God is not going to help a son or daughter get a job if the job will not bring Him glory. But He is not going to reject a son or daughter just because they are not walking in fellowship, either. The good that will come out of this situation might not feel good to the child in the moment, but it will be good for the Father in the span of eternity. 

So, we know that God works things for good, even if it does not make sense to us. We know that his definition of Good might not look like what we think it should look like. We know that He loves us, and He wants us to love Him, too! It sounds like butterflies and rainbows now, right? I can imagine that it does not feel that simple. There are still so many things that happen in life that hurt us. Even when a son or daughter of the King is walking in fellowship with Him, that does not mean that their life will look perfect or even ideal. There is still pain, persecution, suffering, and hardship. 

What needs to be remembered during times like those is what took place just a few verses before the one studied above. Many people will read the beginning of Romans 8, glaze over the middle, and focus on the ending of the chapter. But there is gold in the middle of the chapter as well. Romans 8:18 says "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Whatever we face on this side of heaven, even if it does not make sense to us, will be INCOMPARABLE to the GLORY that will be revealed to us. Everything hard that we face here is still hard here, but it is not the end. There is still hope for all those who are in Christ (Ephesians). This is not the end! 

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