God Works in All Things
Samuel D. Dean
First Baptist Church, Clinton, TN
July 21, 1985
I have a friend who has an expression that is precious. He talks about holy smack. In the Bible, people have mentioned the "holy kiss" and he calls it the "holy smack." He says that many times in life we like to put the holy smack on many of our personal ideas and on many of the things that we want to do ourselves.
I find sometimes we do that when it comes to the Bible. We try to put a verse of scripture which will put its stamp of approval on our particular ideas or on our particular behavior. We do this sometimes by saying that things are in the Bible that are not in the Bible. There are many old saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin that many people think are in the Bible. They will argue with you and say "That's in the Bible." But good ole Ben probably said it instead of it being found in Proverbs. Other times, people will take a verse of scripture and they will just use a segment out of that verse and not have the whole verse included. They will try to take something out of that verse and smack it to what they believe and say, "That is the way God looks at the situation."
Well, we come to a verse of scripture today that I find is probably misused as much as any verse in the Bible. And I can understand why people misuse it, for it is a very comforting verse of scripture the way that it is misused. But I think we must let the verse speak for itself and let God say what God is saying to us. The verse of scripture is often quoted this way: "All things work together for good." That's not true! It's not even scripture. First of all, not all things are good. We all know that, don't we? It's not good to go home and find that your home has been burglarized. It's not good to suddenly be informed that you are bankrupt. It's not good to be told that you have lost a dear loved one. It's not good when someone murders another person. It's not good to be told you are dying of cancer. There are things in life that aren't good, and we need to understand that. I think most of us do. We also need to understand that not all things work together for good. I've known many people who had tragedy come into their lives and they fell apart, never to recover. I've known people to have great losses and they could never get on their feet again. I've known people who have lost loved ones and wanted to die themselves, actually accomplishing this within a matter of weeks. All things DO NOT, necessarily, work together for good. Things in life are not fair. Sometimes you hear people say, "Well life isn't fair." YOU ARE RIGHT! Life is NOT fair! For life did not give all of us the same set of circumstances. I can't thoroughly understand it, but I just know that's a fact.
All things, then, do not necessarily, in themselves, lead to goodness. So when you hear someone quoting this verse that way, just remember that they are taking part of it, and they are not saying what God says to us thorough the pen of the Apostle Paul. What is the verse saying? Let's look at it very carefully.
"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." The last part is an important part of the verse, and we cannot leave it out or distort what God is saying to us. All things can work together for good IF we love God and IF our life is in the center of His divine purpose. Now what difference does it make whether you love God or you do not love God? Well, I think it makes a big difference in how things work in your life. If you don't love God, you may come to pieces. You may lose your orientation. But if you love God, then certain things seem to be yours. Certain resources are yours to cope with the situation. And I have jotted down three which I think are very significant.
First, when you love God, you have to have a faith response to life. Regardless of what happens to you, you tend to look out beyond what has happened to see a brighter day. You have a belief that God is in control of the universe, and His ultimate will will be done. You may not know how you are going to get through this set of circumstances, but somewhere, some day, out there in the future, it is going to be okay. If not in this life, then in the life to come - there is going to be a better day. If you love God, you tend to have a spirit that is filled with optimism because you know that His love will not ultimately let you down.
One lady lost all of her things that she had in the world in a flood. Someone said to her, "You lost everything, didn't you?" "No," she replied. "I just lost my things." You see, she had become a Christian a few years before and even though she was very old, she had not lost everything. She had herself and she had her relationship with God. She could see beyond the flood that had removed everything from her. When you love God, you have a faith response to life. Some of the bad things that happen to you have a way of becoming stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks. Have a way of turning them around and using them in some constructive way.
There's a second thing if you love God. If you love God, you have a relational response to Him that gives you a resource as you deal with all the things in life that are not good. We all need stability in the storms of life. We need an anchor. We need a home. We need a relationship with some force, some person, some personality, something that can give us some sense of direction as we go through the wilderness. Paul would suggest that God is that force, that personality, that being, that essence, that spirit, that strength that end storms of life when you have a relationship with God. When you love Him, that relationship gives you power and strength to go on and to make it through many bad things that happen.
Third, when you love God there is the response that I would call the reclamation response to circumstance. You seek to reclaim all the brokenness of life. You seek to reclaim the territory that looks like a wilderness. You seek to make something of all the bad circumstances that fill your life. You try to get all the pieces together and you try, with the help of God, to make something out of it. And with time and patience and with the power of God, you can take bad things and make a beautiful life out of it. Blindness is bad, but Helen Keller made something beautiful out of her life in spite of it. There are many stories that could be told of this in life, for many people have had bad things happen to them. However, through the help of God, they were able to take those bad things and bring something good from them.
Please note that I am not saying that bad things are good. I am saying that you can take a set of circumstances and you can squeeeeeeze what's good out of it. As someone has said, when life give you a lemon, make lemonade. When life gives you a bad set of circumstances, you turn to the God whom you love and you say, "Lord, help me to become strong as I struggle with this set of circumstances. Help me to learn something. Help my spirit to grow, so that when I come face to face with Thee in eternity, I can be proud of the way in which I have responded to the bad things that happen, even to good people in life." That's the way we, as Christians, have to cope with life, for we are not insulated from problems and tragedy because we are believers. Bad things happen to Christians as well as the unbelievers. But the Christian should have a resource in the God whom he loves, and out of that resource he has a spirit, a determination, a belief, that regardless of how strong the winds of adversity blow, I will set my sails. Regardless of how dark it gets, I will light a candle. Regardless of how much wilderness there is before me, I will blaze a trial because there is a God above who loves me. You will not defeat me, oh circumstance!
Therefore, all things that happen can become the ingredients for God with His power and with His spirit, to make something out of this thing called life. Don't wait for circumstances to change. With the help of God, seek to change the circumstances. And if they can't be changed, watch how YOU change. As someone has said, "What happens to you is not as important as your response to what happens."
All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. As Christians, let us remember that we have a choice. We always do. Man is never without a choice. Regardless of what happens to you in life, you have a choice over how you will respond. And ultimately, in God's eyes, and in the eyes of eternity, your response is the most important decision anyway. How you respond to the bad things in life will make or break you. Just remember that God loves you, and remember to love Him as you go through all of the difficult experiences in life.
Let us pray..
First Baptist Church, Clinton, TN
July 21, 1985
I have a friend who has an expression that is precious. He talks about holy smack. In the Bible, people have mentioned the "holy kiss" and he calls it the "holy smack." He says that many times in life we like to put the holy smack on many of our personal ideas and on many of the things that we want to do ourselves.
I find sometimes we do that when it comes to the Bible. We try to put a verse of scripture which will put its stamp of approval on our particular ideas or on our particular behavior. We do this sometimes by saying that things are in the Bible that are not in the Bible. There are many old saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin that many people think are in the Bible. They will argue with you and say "That's in the Bible." But good ole Ben probably said it instead of it being found in Proverbs. Other times, people will take a verse of scripture and they will just use a segment out of that verse and not have the whole verse included. They will try to take something out of that verse and smack it to what they believe and say, "That is the way God looks at the situation."
Well, we come to a verse of scripture today that I find is probably misused as much as any verse in the Bible. And I can understand why people misuse it, for it is a very comforting verse of scripture the way that it is misused. But I think we must let the verse speak for itself and let God say what God is saying to us. The verse of scripture is often quoted this way: "All things work together for good." That's not true! It's not even scripture. First of all, not all things are good. We all know that, don't we? It's not good to go home and find that your home has been burglarized. It's not good to suddenly be informed that you are bankrupt. It's not good to be told that you have lost a dear loved one. It's not good when someone murders another person. It's not good to be told you are dying of cancer. There are things in life that aren't good, and we need to understand that. I think most of us do. We also need to understand that not all things work together for good. I've known many people who had tragedy come into their lives and they fell apart, never to recover. I've known people to have great losses and they could never get on their feet again. I've known people who have lost loved ones and wanted to die themselves, actually accomplishing this within a matter of weeks. All things DO NOT, necessarily, work together for good. Things in life are not fair. Sometimes you hear people say, "Well life isn't fair." YOU ARE RIGHT! Life is NOT fair! For life did not give all of us the same set of circumstances. I can't thoroughly understand it, but I just know that's a fact.
All things, then, do not necessarily, in themselves, lead to goodness. So when you hear someone quoting this verse that way, just remember that they are taking part of it, and they are not saying what God says to us thorough the pen of the Apostle Paul. What is the verse saying? Let's look at it very carefully.
"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." The last part is an important part of the verse, and we cannot leave it out or distort what God is saying to us. All things can work together for good IF we love God and IF our life is in the center of His divine purpose. Now what difference does it make whether you love God or you do not love God? Well, I think it makes a big difference in how things work in your life. If you don't love God, you may come to pieces. You may lose your orientation. But if you love God, then certain things seem to be yours. Certain resources are yours to cope with the situation. And I have jotted down three which I think are very significant.
First, when you love God, you have to have a faith response to life. Regardless of what happens to you, you tend to look out beyond what has happened to see a brighter day. You have a belief that God is in control of the universe, and His ultimate will will be done. You may not know how you are going to get through this set of circumstances, but somewhere, some day, out there in the future, it is going to be okay. If not in this life, then in the life to come - there is going to be a better day. If you love God, you tend to have a spirit that is filled with optimism because you know that His love will not ultimately let you down.
One lady lost all of her things that she had in the world in a flood. Someone said to her, "You lost everything, didn't you?" "No," she replied. "I just lost my things." You see, she had become a Christian a few years before and even though she was very old, she had not lost everything. She had herself and she had her relationship with God. She could see beyond the flood that had removed everything from her. When you love God, you have a faith response to life. Some of the bad things that happen to you have a way of becoming stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks. Have a way of turning them around and using them in some constructive way.
There's a second thing if you love God. If you love God, you have a relational response to Him that gives you a resource as you deal with all the things in life that are not good. We all need stability in the storms of life. We need an anchor. We need a home. We need a relationship with some force, some person, some personality, something that can give us some sense of direction as we go through the wilderness. Paul would suggest that God is that force, that personality, that being, that essence, that spirit, that strength that end storms of life when you have a relationship with God. When you love Him, that relationship gives you power and strength to go on and to make it through many bad things that happen.
Third, when you love God there is the response that I would call the reclamation response to circumstance. You seek to reclaim all the brokenness of life. You seek to reclaim the territory that looks like a wilderness. You seek to make something of all the bad circumstances that fill your life. You try to get all the pieces together and you try, with the help of God, to make something out of it. And with time and patience and with the power of God, you can take bad things and make a beautiful life out of it. Blindness is bad, but Helen Keller made something beautiful out of her life in spite of it. There are many stories that could be told of this in life, for many people have had bad things happen to them. However, through the help of God, they were able to take those bad things and bring something good from them.
Please note that I am not saying that bad things are good. I am saying that you can take a set of circumstances and you can squeeeeeeze what's good out of it. As someone has said, when life give you a lemon, make lemonade. When life gives you a bad set of circumstances, you turn to the God whom you love and you say, "Lord, help me to become strong as I struggle with this set of circumstances. Help me to learn something. Help my spirit to grow, so that when I come face to face with Thee in eternity, I can be proud of the way in which I have responded to the bad things that happen, even to good people in life." That's the way we, as Christians, have to cope with life, for we are not insulated from problems and tragedy because we are believers. Bad things happen to Christians as well as the unbelievers. But the Christian should have a resource in the God whom he loves, and out of that resource he has a spirit, a determination, a belief, that regardless of how strong the winds of adversity blow, I will set my sails. Regardless of how dark it gets, I will light a candle. Regardless of how much wilderness there is before me, I will blaze a trial because there is a God above who loves me. You will not defeat me, oh circumstance!
Therefore, all things that happen can become the ingredients for God with His power and with His spirit, to make something out of this thing called life. Don't wait for circumstances to change. With the help of God, seek to change the circumstances. And if they can't be changed, watch how YOU change. As someone has said, "What happens to you is not as important as your response to what happens."
All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. As Christians, let us remember that we have a choice. We always do. Man is never without a choice. Regardless of what happens to you in life, you have a choice over how you will respond. And ultimately, in God's eyes, and in the eyes of eternity, your response is the most important decision anyway. How you respond to the bad things in life will make or break you. Just remember that God loves you, and remember to love Him as you go through all of the difficult experiences in life.
Let us pray..
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