All Things Work Together for Good
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 (Rom. 8:28 KJV)
Life’s troubles seem to have one principal purpose: to make us doubt God’s faithfulness and goodness. Blessed, indeed, is the man or woman whose trust in God’s goodness is not ruined by difficult times. However, few things shake our foundation as trusting God’s goodness when life is not rosy. In Romans 8:28, Paul gives us an astonishing revelation to deal with challenging times: all things work together for good to them that love God.
The Greek word for “work together” is synegeo. It means to collaborate or to work together on a common enterprise or project. This sense of fitting together means the pieces of life’s challenges fit together to create a beautiful puzzle, which God says is good. The complete puzzle—the outcome, the result—is always good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
These puzzle pieces work together for good because an invisible divine hand constrains them to behave thus. God makes all things work together for those who love Him, His children. It is crucial to understand this unspoken truth in this verse. This verse is not about human optimism, positive thinking, or a generally positive outlook on life. The reason all things work together for our good is not merely because it will be just fine but because God is watching over our lives as the Master Architect building our lives.
I often illustrate this verse with a trivial analogy. Imagine Satan puts a long sharp nail on your path, intending to inflict deep injury to your feet. Even if that nail was not part of God’s plan for you, He, as Almighty God, will use that nail to fix a part of your roof that might have been leaking! He is God. The things work together not because they are designed to or even want to, but because God makes them to.
Although all things work together for our good, not all things in our lives are from God. Often, believers misinterpret this verse to imply that God is the source of all that occurs in their lives. The analogy of the nail and the leaky roof above should clarify this point.
Trusting and resting in God is the pivot upon which the promise in this verse hinges. God works all things for our good if and only if we let Him, and we let Him do so by trusting in Him. Let God fight your battles as you rest in faith in His goodness, faithfulness, and power.
Please ponder upon this verse and say those words out loud again and again as you let them permeate your spirit.
For God to fight your battles, you must hold your peace. Invite and provoke His intervention by trusting in Him.
Ask the Spirit to strengthen you in faith as you stand your ground in any difficult moment.