Romans 8:28 All Things
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

Romans 8:28 Common English Bible

We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.

To think that everything we go through; every difficult and painful situation as well as  the joyful and sweet moments we experience,  are somehow woven into a great tapestry of blessing and maturity by God.  This is hard to absorb when we are going through a time of suffering.

Suffering is not something we strive for; in fact we tend to avoid it at all cost.  

But if we could look at suffering or the results of suffering through God’s point of view, we may understand the necessity of these trials and perhaps take on a different attitude about it.

We rarely see the big picture of why we are going through difficult times.   When we are unable to understand what we are going through, there is a tendency to panic in what is starting to feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable.  If you were being pulled into the ocean and were desperately afraid, you would claw at the sand and make every effort to gain back control.    God takes us into the ocean little by little so that we are unaware of being pulled into the deep waters and it is in this place of nothingness where we must learn to trust Him.

Nothing makes sense;  there is nothing we can do about it and He is telling us nothing.  

All we know is we are where we are, which doesn’t make sense.  

At this point we cannot see how He is purging those useless beliefs, thoughts and emotions that have been strangling us and preventing us from having a real and healthy life.  We have been unaware that our relationship with God has been hindered.  

When we can see these situations as a springboard God is using to get us to the next level, we are better able to tolerate the struggle itself.  To know that God has a purpose for everything we go through and everything that happens to us even the joyful and peaceful things brings a hopefulness for our future.  All of our life is brought in line with God’s plan to bring glory to Him.   In all these times God uses them to bring good into our lives.   He is good and cannot do otherwise.   

Challenge:   Journal and pay attention to the things you go through.  This will encourage you when you go through struggles and give you smiles during times of fun and peace, but both will help you see how God uses everything to bring us to where we need to be.

God bless

Marni

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The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.