Do All Things Really Work Together for Good?

I had gone to the hospital to pray with a couple I knew whose young child was facing serious medical problems.  As we stood around the bed after praying, the child’s mother said, “I know the Bible says all things work together for good and that’s what I’m holding on to.”

Politely, I asked if I could read the passage to her and the child’s father and they nodded appreciatively.  So I read Romans 8:28 to them, “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.”

That’s really quite different from what she quoted to me.  It is also quite different from what she wanted.  She wanted God to work things out according to her conception of “good” on her conception of “when” with no responsibility for either herself or the child’s father.

Can God do that?  Sure.  Has God worked miracles for people who weren’t following him?  Yes, he has.

I’m not here to argue that.  This blog just concerns things that are on my mind and something I have been thinking about in relation to this event—and others like it before and since—is when people try to “claim” only the portion of God’s promise they want to claim.

Look at the verse (and, better yet, go back and look at the whole passage).  For whom does it say God works everything together for good?  Is it a blanket statement for all mankind?  No.  It is for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

The woman in question was not married to the baby’s father, nor did she have any intention of marrying him.  She didn’t have—as far I could tell—any sort of formal relationship with God.  I had known them for quite a while, had been in their home, and had learned that they owned a Bible but didn’t know where it was, “prayed, but not regularly” and yet here they wanted to claim a promise of God’s that seemed convenient to them.

Remember cereal box top offers?  “Send in 8 box tops and get the Captain Midnight decoder ring!”  What did they send you if you sent in 7 box tops and a good intention?  (Hint: not the ring!)

I’m not saying God works like the promotions department of a breakfast cereal corporation, but I am wondering why we expect the cereal company to live up to their stated bargain but expect less from God.

“Well, God knows my heart!”  Yes, he does.  He knows you invoke his name but don’t pursue him.  He knows you have his word in your possession but take no effort to read it.  He knows you claim love and fidelity but aren’t committed enough to the idea to call up the Justice of the Peace.  If God were the cereal company, don’t you think he’d be saying, “Um, you only have four of the eight box tops and two of them are from the wrong cereal”?

On the other hand, I firmly believe the promise is still valid.  If we love him and accept his calling on our lives, he really will work all things together for our good.

(Does this mean I'll never get sick again, no more flat tires, no leaky roofs?  No.  We live in a broken world.  But we don't have to stay in a broken world.  We have the promise held out of an eternal, good world.)