Trusting God In All Things

Every day it seems like this world is getting worse. A simple perusal of our local news reveals a world filled with murder, robbery, child abuse and neglect. The world news reveals war and political upheaval. Bad things happen every single day. There is world hunger and children are dying in countries where even the water they drink kills them. Being a Christian does not isolate us from the often devastating things that happen in life. Cancer, divorce, addiction and financial struggles affect us as well. Even when we seem to be in a season of blessings it seems like someone around us is suffering through a storm. No wonder so many of us suffer from depression and joy plays hide and seek with us.

 So what do we do? What can we do? Well the answer really is quite simple. The answer is not found in anti-depressants or in psychology. The answer quite simply is found in God’s Word. This morning as I struggled to drag myself out of bed to start another week, I did what I do every morning. I pray. Today my morning prayers were listless and tired just like me.

God’s response this morning was a simple reminder of one of the few Bible verses I actually have memorized. Romans 8:28 “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.”

Wherever you are today and whatever circumstances you are in, the truth of that scripture is the answer. Notice a few things that this verse says. Obviously the main point is that whatever we are going through today God is going to work it out for good. That should be enough to sustain us.

But notice that it says that God causes this. This means we don’t have to be trying to figure out what to do in our need. Not that we don’t need to do anything at all, but the point is that our response to our situation is to trust God, to have faith in this promise. That is good news because this means whether our situation is messed up because we messed up, or because someone else messed up, or things just are what they are, God is going to do what He promises. What we need to do is to go to God in prayer and say “God help me. You promise to work this out to good and right now I cannot see how that is possible.” This is part of what Jesus meant when He said in Matthew 18:2 that we must become like little children. We need to stop thinking we or someone else can solve our problems or fulfill our needs and be completely dependent on Him.

But maybe the most neglected part of all of God’s promises is missed in one word found in Romans 8:28 and that is the word all. You do not need to be a Greek scholar to understand what this word means in this verse. It means all. It means that God is going to work out every single thing to the good. This includes but not limited to the following list:

Our sin. Other’s sin. Illness. Death. The loss of a child. Divorce. War. This means that even when I have messed up completely God can and will use it to bring things together for good. Yes, this verse is talking to you. But there is a caveat here. This promise is only for “those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Do you love God? If you do then you have been called. Today is the day to answer that call. Jesus does not turn away those who cry out to Him as we see in John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

We must believe in Him and that what He says is truth. Today no matter what you face the words of Romans 8:28 are true. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. Read His Word. Pray to Him. Worship and praise Him no matter how tough things get. Some days it’s all that keeps me going. But it is enough. God bless all you.