And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28.
One thing I know about this verse is: my mother loves it.
For me, it’s a frustrating but comforting verse. For some, it’s just misunderstood or misapplied. Recently, God said no to something I wanted badly. It hurt so much, and I hadn’t felt that much pain and disappointment in a while. I cried till I fell sick. It hurt because I didn’t fully understand why. Everyone seemed to have it, but somehow, I was an exception even though I had valid, legitimate reasons for wanting it, too.
I know that everything happens for a reason, but… why, though?
Truth is, I may never know. Or, I may get to know in weeks, months, or years to come.
I think Romans 8:28 is a verse that is only comforting when it is properly understood. I think we do ourselves a lot of disservice by assuming that because God is good, everyday of our lives will be good when in fact, we haven’t been promised a life without bad days or stress. That being said, when you have a bad day, it doesn’t ungod God or degod Him, and when you have a good day, it doesn’t overgod God or hypergod Him. We can’t make God more God than He is. He remains God. And He is good (I write this to remind myself of this truth).
Romans 8: 28 is not two things:
- it’s not trying to invalidate your feelings. It’s not saying hey, stop being sad. What you lost or couldn’t get is not that bad.
- it’s not asking you to be overly or blindly optimistic.
By taking that verse out of context — which is what is done to a lot of verses in the Bible — the idea behind it is lost. I think it is also possible to accurately interpret the verse and still use it to disregard another person’s genuine pain, but here’s what I think it’s saying.
It’s saying, feel what you’re feeling. If you’re hurt and upset, acknowledge it. I’m not asking you to get over it, no. Go through it, but rest, be comforted, encouraged, and confident in the things I (God) am preparing for you.
God works things out together for those who love Him, which means that the promise is limited to those who love Him and put their faith in Him. My mom would always say when things don’t go how we hoped for it to go that since we prayed about it, God definitely heard us. God works things out together for those who have been called according to His purpose. Which means that at the end of the day, it’s not really about us, and it makes me wonder, what is my idea of good, then?
I believe one of God’s desires is that we are transformed into the likeness of His son (Romans 12:2). And I think that sometimes, even though it always feels like punishment, it might have to take problems to develop our character, and draw us closer to Him.
Everyday of your life was written on God’s calendar before you were born, therefore, everything that happens to you has a spiritual significance — Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life.
Apart from the many things God taught me in the past month, I have learnt to actually trust God. To trust that He knows way more than I do. To trust that He is always looking out for me and has my best interest at heart. To trust that He is way too invested and deliberate about everything that has to do with me. To trust that He knows what He’s doing.
And for the first time, I really don’t feel like a fraud when I say that I trust God.
The Bible talks about those people who only received God with joy, but when hardship struck, they fell away (Matthew 13:20–21, you’re welcome). Their faith was only temporary, and that made me think of something. I don’t want to be cool with Jesus only because He does great things for me, no. If it takes something rough to bring me much closer to Him, I’ll take it, too.
Just like my mom would say, it says all things work together, not all good things work together, and that just means it includes the sufferings Paul was referring to in Romans 8:18.
Guys, Romans 8 is a gem, and I’m not kidding.
And now that I think about it, I will also rest in Jeremiah 29:11. As crazy as it sounds, I realize that God had been comforting me even when I was waiting and praying. Every time I had prayed about what I hoped for, that verse would come to mind. I just didn’t know what it really meant in relation to what I wanted. But now I get it. I will also rest in Galatians 3:17, I was studying the chapter the other day, and I just know that God was trying to reassure me. It still hurts to think about what I couldn’t have, and sometimes, I still get beaten down by it, but God reminded me that if He said it, He will do it. I’m here to remind you of that truth, too.
So you know what? I’m actually fine not knowing. I’m fine not knowing why things may not work out all the time, because I trust that there is a grand designer behind everything who is working things out for my good. I might make jokes that don’t go over well. I might forget people’s birthdays. I might forget to water my plants.
I make mistakes.
But God doesn’t.
This is just a massive shoutout to the people I’m blessed enough to call my parents.
