And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Rom 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."
Romans 8:28 has always been one of my favorite verses. it reminds me of when Joseph said, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."
the LORD is truly amazing! amen? i just love how He makes all things work together... for good. though we usually cannot see the good at the time.
praise Your holy name, Jesus!!
In "The Hiding Place" Corrie Ten Boom tells about hers and her sister, Betsie’s, imprisonment in German concentration camps in World War II for their work in helping Jews escape the brutal Third Reich. Corrie tells of their first day at Ravensbruck where she and Betsie were led into their barracks, only to discover that the entire living area is infested with fleas.
“Fleas!” I cried. “Betsie, the place is swarming with them!”
We scrambled across the intervening platforms, heads low to avoid another bump, dropped down to the aisle, and edged our way to a patch of light.
“Here! And here another one!” I wailed. “Betsie, how can we live in such a place?”
“Show us. Show us how.” It was said so matter of factly it took me a second to realize she was praying. More and more the distinction between prayer and the rest of life seemed to be vanishing for Betsie.
“Corrie!” she said excitedly, “He’s given us the answer! Before we asked, as He always does! In the Bible this morning. Where was it? Read that part again!”
I glanced down the long dim aisle to make sure no guard was in sight, then drew the Bible from its pouch. “It was in First Thessalonians,” I said. We were on our third complete reading of the New Testament since leaving Scheveningen. In the feeble light I turned the pages. “Here it is: ‘Comfort the frightened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.…’” It seemed written expressly to Ravensbruck.
“Go on,” said Betsie. “That wasn’t all.”
“Oh yes: ‘… to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus – “
“That’s it, Corrie! That’s his answer. ‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’ That’s what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!”
I stared at her, then around me at the dark, foul-aired room.
“Such as?” I said.
“Such as being assigned here together.”
I bit my lip. “Oh yes, Lord Jesus!”
“Such as what you’re holding in your hands.”
I looked down at the Bible, “Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all the women, here in this room, who will meet you in these pages.”
“Yes!” said Betsie, “Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we’re packed so close, that many more will hear!” She looked at me expectantly. “Corrie!” she prodded.
“Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed, suffocating crowds.”
“Thank You,” Betsie went on serenely, “for the fleas and for – “
The fleas! This was too much. “Betsie, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea!”
“’Give thanks in all circumstances’” she quoted. “It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.
And so we stood between piers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.
As time went on, Corrie and Betsie would begin to hold worship services in the barracks. Night after night, they would hold services and they would never be disturbed by the guards in the dormitories. They were closely watched everywhere else, but in the barracks, the guards rarely showed up at all. Corrie goes on to tell how they learned the answer to the mystery:
One evening I got back to the barracks late from a food gathering foray outside the walls. … Betsie was waiting for me, as always, so that we could wait through the food line together. Her eyes were twinkling.
“You’re looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself,” I told her.
“You know we never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room,” she said. “Well – I’ve found out!”
That afternoon, she said, there had been confusion in her knitting group about sock sizes and they’d asked the supervisor to come settle it.
“But she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t step through the door, and neither would the guards. And you know why?”
Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice: “Because of the fleas! That’s what she said, ‘That place is crawling with fleas!’”
My mind rushed back to our first hour in this place. I remembered Betsie’s bowed head, remembered her thanks to God for creatures I could see no use for.
Sometimes He will use evil for His purposes, and if evil happens in our lives, God allows it for a variety of reasons, some of which might or might not include:
1). He Allows Satan to test us (Job), and He receives glory when we pass these tests.
2). When we overcome evil, we get stronger.
3). Evil events can bring someone to repentance or teach them lessons.
4). Preventing an evil event might cause something worse to happen to someone else, or something worse to happen later.
5). Above all, to the Believer, our time on Earth is but a blink of an eye against Eternity. Even the Death of our Earthly body is naught more than a single moment in our existence.
To be honest I prefer the version that says "In all things God works for good" - it isn't the things which somehow work together for good, but God who works in the things. I'm not trying to criticise - maybe that's just semantics, but I like it.
And when I think of this verse alongside Genesis 1,
"In the beginning, God"
"in all things, God",
I find that quite powerful.
It is great to read all of the above posts; yes, I remember Corrie and the fleas. The one that speaks to me the most is 5) Above all, to the Believer, our time on Earth is but a blink of an eye against Eternity. Even the Death of our Earthly body is naught more than a single moment in our existence. The last 6 months have been terrible, watching my son suffer and die with pancreatic cancer, leaving his young family. In the night...it is always the worst of times for me...crying to the Lord for relief from the tremendous feeling of loss, this truth is just what I had impressed on my mind from the Lord, just a couple of weeks ago. All the questions and the feelings that life isn't possible without my dear son, all became easier to live with in the light of this great truth.
(((((musicalpilgrim)))))...In the night...it is always the worst of times for me...crying to the Lord for relief from the tremendous feeling of loss, this truth is just what I had impressed on my mind from the Lord, just a couple of weeks ago. All the questions and the feelings that life isn't possible without my dear son, all became easier to live with in the light of this great truth.
Im soooooo glad for the company and your whole community that you followed God's lead through this whole thing.RE: @Tishri1: ...
This, of course, is only my limited ability to try to reason out why God did what He did with me, and those working at my workplace. I could be wrong in this, but this is the understanding I've come to, after several prayers.