All Things Work Together

Romans 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.”

And we know. It is not religious estimation. It is not educated hypothesis. It is more than conjecture or random formulas. There is knowledge rooted in a timeless truth. The knowledge that the present trial must not chain you, but change you. The problems we face cannot ignore the Divine pattern already established in the Eternal Word.

Preemptive Understanding

“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” When you know that God is at work it doesn’t remove the pain, but it empowers the purpose revealed in the pain. Something is always better ahead for the child of God that keeps walking. For instance, if you are walking a familiar path then you know where the various destinations are located. There is no guessing. You are not confused by certain twists and turns in the path. And the doesn’t concern you if you know how far it will be from the start. God gives us this preemptive understanding in our faith. We can pray until we see things from a clearer vantage point of His perspective, from the peaks of His insights.

Wanting nothing. Think about how powerful this is; if you have a pantry stocked with every kind of food then you need only get up and go get it. Faith is connected to the Higher Knowledge of God that knows where everything that we need is placed. More than groceries, we are talking about grace. His favor wants us to be fruitful, wanting nothing. So we keep growing from trial to trial. We learn. We are liberated by what we learn (like finding the combination or key to the prison bars that confine you); we take that liberty and shine it as a light for others trapped in spiritual prisons.

Praiseworthy Undertaking

“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” I Peter 1:6-7

“As by the action of fire gold is separated from all alloy and heterogeneous mixtures, and is proved to be gold by its enduring the action of the fire without losing any things of its nature, weight, color, or any other property, so genuine faith is proved by adversities.”[1] In other words, if we are going to be found praiseworthy in the end we will have to endure some pressure in the middle. Times will give us struggling seconds and agonizing hours.

You see, it’s not what goes in, the tested; but what comes out, the proven. Gold and fire work together to reveal purity.

Though now for a season. The brittle branches of a fruit tree in winter might solicit morbid feelings. You could stare at the unproductive tree and think to cut it down. You might even say, “it will never be the same.” Cold winds blow. Harsh skies discourage. Fruitless boughs creak. But it’s just a season. Change is coming. Time will tick away the cold breath of winter, and frost will give way to new fruit. Buds will show. Leaves will stretch. Freshness will awaken. Spring will come. And what was invisible in the frigid days of snow and ice will become a renewed vision of pregnant orchards and fruit laden branches.

The trial is not supposed to last, only what you gain from it. I like pistachios. And I like to eat them from the shell. I like the slower rhythm and patience it takes to gain one tasty nut from the shell. And after a few minutes I sweep the piles of shells from the desk to the trash. I take the pistachio and leave the shell. Take the treasure from the trial and leave the trial. Don’t stay in the cold confines of the cave. Gain your courage, pray for a while, share your isolated feelings with a Holy God; then leave the cave. Mine the gold; leave the mountain.

All things work together. Unifying circumstances. Broken bits mixed with whole parts. All things “fitly framed together.”[2]

The Expositor’s Greek Testament interprets this phrase as “God co-operates for good in all things.” Think about that. Even if something begrudgingly goes along with the will of God, the Lord still makes it work. Even detractors to your faith become co-stars in the journey of your life where God is the “author and the finisher.”[3]

There are two sides to this verse. The human and the Divine. We have a perspective of all things working together for good; and God has a perspective of everything fitting His purpose. So, the carnal man wants to know how things endured, places walked, experiences lived, faith acted out and failures realized, will achieve his own ambitions and secular drives. But the spiritual man relinquishes this inferior perspective for a better understanding of how everything endured (what we suffered), endeared (what we learned to love) and endeavored (what we attempted in the first place) fits the perfect will of God.Human perspective might only see the lion that roared against Samson, the giant that insulted David, the cross that killed a Messiah; the valley of the shadow of death; the Babylonians destroying the temple and walls of Jerusalem; the brothers of Joseph selling him to a ragged Ishmaelite bunch; but Divine perspective might show you honey in the carcass for Samson, a shepherd boy rocking the world, an empty tomb, walking through the valley of the shadow of death; rebuilt walls in Nehemiah; Joseph becoming second in command to Pharaoh in Egypt. You see, all things work together. You have to let God finish the story.

“Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” (James 1:2) We certainly find joy in the treasure, but can we find joy in the trial? Can we endure the depths of sorrow to find gems and jewels of faith? And because this verse uses the word “divers” we know that temptations (tests) come in all shapes and sizes. Some seem to circle us over and over again. Some try to make us feel square about what we believe. Others try to triangulate our convictions between various opinions. Yet in this geometric realm of spiritual exams we are told to “count” it all. The successes and the failures. They work to together to mature us. The ups and the downs. They work together to manifest God’s grace in our lives. The sorrows and the celebrations. They work together to teach us to be mission focused beyond temporary emotions.

John MacArthur points out, “This Greek word (temptations, trials) connotes trouble, or something that breaks the pattern of peace, comfort, joy, and happiness in someone’s life. The verb for of this word means “to put someone or something to the test,” with the purpose of discovering that person’ natures or that thing’s quality.”

So, peace seems to cease. Trouble rushes in like a flash flood from torrential rains. Routine of laughs are rudely adjusted for lamentations. Contentment is bumped in favor of momentary chaos. The pursuit of happiness becomes the sudden trail of survival. Yet, we are to count it all joy. Don’t just observe the good times, sketch in the negative days, stormy seasons, and unexpected setbacks. You see, because all things work together. God’s brings hurt into harmony with hope. This is what Jesus did with the cross. He couldn’t avoid it and save the world. He couldn’t send a substitute in to die for him; he was the chosen sacrifice, the spotless lamb. So, he viewed it as the “joy set before Him.”[4] How can nail thrust through your wrists be joyful? How could screaming countrymen wanting your Crucifixion, be a matter of rejoicing? How could scourge laden wounds, thorn pierced brows, dehydrated lungs and excruciating pain be calm delight (one of the Greek meanings for the “joy”)? Because all things work together in the perfect will of God. There may be pain now, but not pain always. There may be thorns now, but a throne room is coming. There may be terrible disappointment now, but a better appointment takes us across the threshold of the New Jerusalem.

This is not the joy of selfish ambition. That would more fittingly describe the bean-buying-birthright-selling Esau; or Judas giving away a future foundation in heaven for a little bag of silver. Selfish ambition takes everything that works together for the purpose of God and destructively performs the opposite. We must not be Ahab lusting for another man’s (Naboth) vineyard and pouting until Jezebel gets him what he wants, by deception and death.[5] That’s gaining by killing. We must not be like self-serving Gehazi and go running after Naaman’s chariot for charity while the resisting Elijahs in our lives disparagingly watch.[6] That’s gaining by compromise. We cannot be swayed from our convictions like the sell-out Baalim, who ignored his conscience for celebrity status in the Midianite world; coaching them into partial victory over Israel by teaching them to mix-breed doctrines and religious DNA. That’s gaining by conspiracy.

This joy is the joy of sacrificial anointing. Jesus could endure the cross in the perfect will of God because he would say in the face of suffering, “I delight to do thy will, O my God.”[7] Jesus could look beyond the suffering to see an eternal achievement, a victorious church, a worthy temporary chastisement for a more splendid championing of grace and hope. Paul would categorize this legendary honor of Christ as a superior one who “striveth for the mastery.” [8] An athlete might sacrifice certain foods for a gold medal; a student might sacrifice several fun-time moments to dig deeper for that doctorate; a parent might work twenty more hours a week to ascertain funding for a child’s college education; but Jesus mastered his mission for mankind. To save us. To celebrate our sin cleansed souls. And that is the ultimate pattern for “all things working together.” It won’t make sense if you only look at it secularly; you must see it spiritually. The visible clouds what the invisible creates; in other words, it’s easy to get blinded by the winds and the waves and forget that we are walking on the waters of the miraculous.[9]

This joy is a joy of spiritual adjustment. We can have earthly expectations that act similar to heavenly ambition. But the path they take us down has a disappointing conclusion, a dark destination. But if I choose the “path of righteousness for his name’s sake”[10]then I know the destination is a godly one. If I take I-25 South from Denver the route will take me to Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and eventually to the southern Colorado border entering into New Mexico. No matter what vehicle I’m traveling in or who I’m traveling with or what the weather conditions are as I travel, that route has a predetermined destination.

According to His purpose. You see, God’s choices have predetermined routes. Routes of redemption. Avenues of hope. Trails of truth and discovery. Paths of purpose and power. God’s choices are not subject to change, only change from those who choose NOT to follow his guidelines and boundaries. If I choose a specific interstate to take me to a specific city then the route is not going to change, but I can change my mind about going in that certain direction. This is the power of the cross. It was predetermined before the foundation of the world. God did not find a path to lead to the cross; he pointed every Biblical path, every prophecy, every triumph and failure of chosen Israel; he pointed all of these things to the cross. The paths came to the lamb. Jesus had a path of service, suffering, and celebration that no earthly power or demonic agenda could thwart because “God (had) set forth (Jesus) to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.”[11]

If I am traveling on an intestate headed to a certain city and I’m caught in time consuming traffic, I’m still headed in the right direction; I may not get there when I thought I would get there, but I’m still aimed at the same target. But if I venture off the route and try to find my own way, turning left and right and randomly taking side streets; I may end up lost and going in circles. I’m lost and delayed. Some are wandering in circles of religious frustration because they ignored accurate coordinates or decided to try sin’s freedom way. Heartache ensues. Time is lost. The journey is dangerously off into the unknown. And one may never get back on the right road.

God has a purpose beyond human insight. His ways are higher than our ways. And we may occasionally travel a low road in view of this Higher Purpose, but we must endure. Be encouraged even when you can’t see the immediate results. Push on. Pray again. Believe always. It will all come together.

[1] Adam Clarke

[2] Ephesians 2:21

[3] Hebrews 12:2

[4] Hebrews 12:2

[5] I Kings 21

[6] II King 5

[7] Psalm 40:8

[8] I Corinthians 9:25

[9] Matthew 14

[10] Psalm 23:3

[11] Romans 3:25