Romans 8:28 is "A soft pillow for a tired heart" - R. A. Torrey
The Promise: "And we know all things work together for good"
The People of the Promise: "them that love God...them who are the called according to His purpose"
The God of the Promise: "...God..."
For us to find this passage a soft pillow for the tired heart, the God of the promise must not be the god of natural religion. Natural man approves a religion in which man is doing what he will, while God is trying to do what He can.
The God of the promise is a Sovereign God who possesses unlimited power, else He would not be able to work all things together for good. The God of the promise is an immutable God who is not susceptible to change, else we could not know all things work together for good, but perhaps wonder whether He will change His mind. The God of the promise is a compassionate and benevolent God who has a genuine care for His people, else He would not be working good. The God of the promise is a determinate God who has a definitely settled purpose, else this could not be all working according to His purpose.
"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."
"Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower." - William Cowper
2 comments:
The following story is distributed widely on the internet, and bears the marks of an illustration and not a true story. But it is a good interesting illustration and a somewhat humourous read. Enjoy.
The story is told of a king who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"
One day the king and his friend were on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. In preparing one of the guns, the friend had apparently done something wrong, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.
About a year later, the king was hunting in a dangerous area. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to it. As they approached to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So after untying the king, they sent him on his way.
As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."
"No," his friend replied, "This is good!"
"What do you mean, 'This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?"
"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."
--Source unknown
Yeah, we're still cursed, somewhat; still attemting to discern the difference between good and evil; still trying to be "like God". We were never intended to ask the question of whether it is "good" or "evil", much less to know the answer.
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