Would it have been a good idea to have Saddam Hussein continue his behavior? Was it a good idea to have stopped Hitler? We have no problem answering these questions. But what about the soldier who returned from the war and found his wife had died in their home so that without her care the two small children also died of starvation? Or what about the children whose wife and brother plotted his murder? Are these all for the best? We use this text sometimes to counteract bad events. This is used like a parity of the Scripture which says God will not put anything on us we are not able to bear. Can we truly say this is all for the best all the time?
The Scripture begins by saying that we know. However, we know in several ways. We know by head knowledge. That kind of knowledge to be defined is the lower kind of understanding or taken eagerly by senses. In another place, Paul tells Timothy that he should study to show himself approved. Then there is experiential knowledge of how we know. To some people faith is hope based on past tense for what we have previously realized. It includes past glories, victories, and even lessons that we have learned sometimes the hard way. This could result in a deep conviction as we conclude those circumstances. Also, there is persuasive knowledge as we experience situations sometimes. That is our conviction as we live out in daily life. When we study the Scriptures, it could also be prophetic in nature as recorded in Hebrews 11:13.
The verse includes the phrase, “all things.” That means we know all things. It does not mean that every single piece of knowledge is ours. It does mean that because of circumstances, timing, and persons, places, we had no alternative results as we experience them. Just the same, this calls for the nature of God who really does know all things. As we rely on him, we also rely on what he knows. In our weakness as humans, we have a limited supply of what we can know. Even Satan’s claims to Jesus during the temptation verifies that he did not know everything. In regard to God’s blessings, our knowledge of all things is also beyond imagination. (Ephesians 3:20)
The verse continues by saying that we know all things… “Work together for good.” This is the part that is hard for us to grasp. By using this phrase as a standalone for faith, we will fail for what we think is justice in our lives. Knowledge tells us that not everything works together for our good. There are those hard times from which it is impossible to recover. The devil wants us to take this part of the verse as a mockery. If he can convince us that this part of the verse is a lie, the entire verse is a lie, meaning that maybe the whole Bible is a lie. As we wrestle with difficult times in life, we must remember that life itself is a coordination of the Mastermind. It would seem that we are faced with the question of what basis does man decide that it becomes labeled as good. When does man call it good? As the saying goes, we might need to hit rock bottom before we can rise up. It could be the worst of times for us to become the best of what we are. It could be that God allows the worst to redirect how we have been living, for what our goals happened to be.
Now, let’s get to the heart of the matter. It is a misnomer to say that everything works in our lives for good because the verse concludes with specific stipulations. It says, “to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” This puts a whole new spin on the matter. The fact is that very few things work out for her our good because not everybody really loves God, not everybody is called according to his purpose. This is a major dynamic in the believer’s spiritual growth. Do we love God enough to rely on him so that whatever happens we consider for our own good? Have we grown close enough to God so that we are called by him? Has that growth been sufficient to demonstrate that we are living according to his purpose and not our hearts? These are goals for us to attain but not goals that very many reach. While we love God, we delight ourselves in him. If we are called according to his purpose, then we live a life that is consistent with God’s plan no matter how it unveils itself. Our lives were intended to be a vehicle for the expression of God’s thinking. As we live close to God, we enjoy a potential for good to be realized in our lives.
In the meantime, we must position ourselves in our relationship with God so that when the difficult times come, we are receptive to the comfort of his Holy Spirit without bitterness, without rancor. This verse is not a rationalization. It is a goal for us to reach toward. It is the reorganizing of our spiritual life and how we think so that God is so much in charge of our lives what happens is always in his hands.
Christian Writer 