Do All Things Really Work Together For Good?

By: Kate Ledbetter

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

I've heard it my whole life: "Don't worry! It will all work out. The Bible says, 'All things work together for good'!"

I received Christ at 19 years old, a married preacher's wife. I was already a Bible college graduate, who grew up in Christian school and in a preacher's home. I didn't think there was much I would learn from the Bible when I got saved. I was, thankfully, so wrong. The Spirit of The Lord brought His Word to life, and I began to realize that I was not always accurate in how I had seen and heard it presented before. The missing component between using the Bible as a proof text and it being the Living Word of God was the Holy Spirit. Now that He dwelt within me, He began to open my eyes with new understanding every time I looked in His Word with a longing desire to know Truth. There was so much I realized I had anchored in the traditions of man. Religious verbiage is not at all hard to spew about, and when it sounds good, we, in our flesh, want to believe we are right in what we think. So often, though, the Word of God just doesn't say what we want it to. 

One of the verses I've noticed taken out of context through the years is Romans 8:28. Do all things work together for good?

According to the verse, they sure do, but that goodness comes with stipulations. The verse actually says, Romans 8:28 “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.”

We've so often left out the loving God part. We leave out the last part because we interpret it to mean the saved. To many, the verse says if you're saved, God will work everything for your good. It sounds good, it's just not what the verse says.

Do you love God? That's the question. According to His Word, we have ways we can prove our love.

1. Obedience - I John 5:1-4

Love of God and obedience to Him have always walked hand-in-hand. I challenge you to get on whatever Bible app you read from and search two words together,  "love" and "commandments.” Study how often those two words are linked together concerning our love of God. John 14:15, 21;15:10

2. Love of the Brethren - I John 5:1-4

Isn't it amazing that of the two things that show our love for the Father, this one is the hard one? Loving the Lord and wanting to please Him for all He has done for us is a deep desire of any saved woman's heart. Loving the brethren, on the other hand, is easy when they make it easy and at times seemingly impossible when they make it hard. It's hard to read I Corinthians 13 and walk in charity. We have two eyes that see out and none that see in. We have two ears that listen to others and none that listen to our internal self. Who we do have on the inside, though, is a Saviour Who can be those eyes and ears and help us see our heart for what it is.

Truth be told, we cannot love anyone without the Spirit to help us. We are too prone to selfishness, to false and negative assumptions, and jealousy. We are also often too prideful to investigate the truth. The only way we can succeed in this promise being fulfilled in our life is to anchor in our obedience to the Lord and His Word. He tells us how to love, and that is by obedience alone.

Love is not giving someone the feeling of butterflies. It is the gift of walking in truth (Psalm 15:1,2), extending mercy (Matthew 5:7; James 2:13), and forgiveness (Matthew 6:12-15) - they may not even deserve. It doesn't mean you have to be an angry woman's friend - the Bible says not to be (Proverbs 22:24, 25). It doesn't mean you have to tolerate sin (Ephesians 5:15-17, II Thessalonians 3:14, 15; I Corinthians 5:11). Loving someone is simply finding the balance of belief in God's Word and walking in it. It's not just obeying the "do this and that" parts, but also obeying the "don't do this and that" parts as well. We see clearly to pray for our enemies, to do good to them, and to love them. We often don't see how we are to get stumbling blocks out of our way and how we are to communicate directly face-to-face with people who we have problems with. And what about restoration of those we see walking away from the Lord? Before doing a nosedive into sin, we generally see a decline. Do we obey the Lord by trying to reach them before they are too far gone (Galatians 6:1)? How do we love the brethren? Do we really love the Lord?

All things do work together for good if you love God. How are you loving the Lord today? Are you keeping His commandments - obeying His Word? How's your love for the brethren?

I John 3:18 “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”