“And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God. Those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28
Let’s carefully study first what the passage says, and what it does not say. Then let’s look at it’s application.
“Through all things”
All things, it’s not just some or most. Through. It’s not that all things are themselves good, or will be made good. It is through the good and the bad. It is through the ordinary and the unordinary.
“God works”
God works. It does not say that God forces. Whom is God working for? Is God at work for everyone? Is God at work for all who claim that they are His? He is not. God is only at work, through all things, for those who love Him. It does not say for those who acknowledge or like Him. It says loves.
“of those that love Him”
It is human nature for people to be too quick to try and take this promise for themselves. We must be honest with ourselves about whether or not we actually love God. Loving someone means that you sacrificially give of; yourself, time, and resources to look out for the interests of the one you love. Love is seeking the best for another. If you never have time for meaningful prayer, Bible reading, Christian material reading, fasting, meditating upon God’s Word, or being there in person to help others; then you aren’t loving God. When one does these things with the intention of seeking first the Kingdom of God, this promise is then for them!
“For those who are the called”
It is a promise reserved for Christians; genuine Christians. It is the most sad thing to see people who have never had an ounce of God’s Light trying to draw strength from mere written words. It hurts to see people who aren’t strong minded be able to honestly admit that Bible passages bring them no strength. When people are told, and reinforced, that they are already a Christian because they prayed a certain prayer they don[t identify the proper problem. People will then doubt the truth about God and His word. They don’t look into, or accept, the real problem as them not yet being one of God’s people. They do not realize that God’s promise isn’t for them.
“According to His purpose”
Some of God’s promises don’t come to pass for His people because in this time or circumstance it does not fit with God’s purpose. For this promise, the only conditions are being one of the called and loving God. Things may not pan out how we hope or think. They are all fitting together for the good of God’s plan, not our plan. We might miss the truth of this because we have a mental box of how this should look. God’s purpose may in fact exist outside of that box. The most overarching purpose of God for us, is to glorify Him and be confirmed to Him. What an amazing and deep promise to try and grasp and hold to! We see in it the constant working of God in all things; while still making room for the free-will of man. There is the important question for all of us to honestly ask ourselves. Do I truly love God. We know the basic outline of God’s plan for us and humanity. We do not know specifics in advance. We often do not know them in the present time. If you or I will lovingly submit to God in each circumstance, God will make good come about from it. He will. It is thankfully not up to us to force it. God will do it.
What does all of this mean in the real world? Let’s take a small look at application to this. A volume of books could be written on the matter. The application of this that God has had on my heart is how it relates to dealing with the USA. This country was originally settled by many immigrants who were God’s people looking for greater freedom to follow Him as they saw fit. Certainly not all, but many. God brought them many blessings. God will bless up to the seventh generation of those who love Him. This country enjoyed great freedom, blessing, and abundance in it’s early days.
There has been a slow deterioration of this. We could argue for different points for the start of this decline. I would say that it started around 1900. Things were not always rosy and easy for people in this country up until 1900. There were still difficulty circumstances. These were mostly met with victorious battles and further subsequent blessings. Somewhere around WWII this deterioration accelerated. People trusted way too much what they heard and read from the media. Life was mostly comfortable and convenient. A willingness to seek truth, and stand for it, took a major hit. This country fell into lots of delusion. There were natural curses, or repercussions, as consequences. For many reasons, there has been an accelerated decline in life being blessed for those in the USA. Do not get me wrong. This is still a very blessed country. It’s one of the most protected and blessed. It is simply nowhere nearly so as it was in the past. It can be easy to see how the people of this country, in it’s earlier days, were greatly blessed by God. The purpose of God was very much being manifest in the USA. While today there is rampant: violence, deep sin, poverty, mass strong delusion, depression, and the like.
There is yet great opportunity for good that is within God’s purpose to come about! Where sin is greater, the love of God stands out all the more! When people are healed of great problems. They become great aids to those still stuck in their former ailments. Decades of poisoned “Church” behavior and teaching has made the real thing stand out more. More people are seeing that they honestly still have genuine need. The broken can more easily see when junk “churches” provide no real help. Young people today, in our very sick and twisted world, are seeking hard and honestly after God. Real Christians are becoming stronger. We can see that greater numbers of God’s people are seeking harder after Him in repentance. The world could have easily fallen into global slavery during the COVID plandemic. The USA could have easily fallen to communism be now. President Trump should be dead. We can argue about what level of good he has done. He has no doubt though done some real good for this country. His team has done a lot of good. RFK Jr. and his team are doing much good. My governor (Mrs. Reynolds) has been outstanding.
Many other countries are in the finally stages of falling into communism. It is easier than ever to see it, if you have eyes that see. The opportunity for people in those countries to resist has never been greater. There is so much subtle persecution of God’s genuine people in the USA today. It is drawing so many into a deeper relationship with Him! The last hundred years have led to a deeper and richer spiritual growth for God’s people. The children of God have probably never been better prepared to serve others. The great rials that I’ve come through certainly leave me better suited to be of real aid to others. If you are one of God’s real people, the same is true of you! Prolonged loving obedience brings about blessing. This is God at work in all things for the good of those who love Him. Greater disobedience, bringing about greater punishments, makes the same sort of opportunity. Light grey is harder to detect and navigate through. The darker the grey is, the easier it is to detect and navigate through. Adam and Eve didn’t know how great they had it. It was all they ever knew. Where is God at during: death, pain, and great trial? He is right there leaving open a door to His Grace and Mercy. He will force nobody into that door. Not forcing things upon mankind is a part of love. If we were all pre-programed robots, that wouldn’t be very loving. God’s grace is best seen against the greatest pain and sin. God’s honesty is best seen against the greatest deluge of deception. God’s peace is best seen against a mass of unease and depression.
May we be those who sincerely love God. May we have trusting and opened eyes to see what God is working for in all things for our good; our good according to His purpose!