Life Talk

Today’s Promise

Scripture: Romans 8:28

Devotional:
This is one of the most quoted promises in all of Scripture. And if we’re honest, one of the most difficult to hold onto when life falls apart. It’s easy to believe when things are going well. But in the middle of real pain like a medical condition, a relationship that ended, a promised door that closed, then these words can feel hollow like a greeting card verse that’s out of touch with reality.

So let’s be careful with the manner in which we apply it. This verse does not say that all things are good. Nor does it say all people receive good things. Actually let’s look at it this way, in all things God is at work for those who love Him. This is a world of difference. A broken bone is not a good thing. A betrayal, a loss, a diagnosis that reshapes your entire future, none of these are good in themselves. What the verse promises is not the goodness of every circumstance, but the sovereignty of a God who refuses to waste any of them.

Think of Joseph, thrown into a pit by his own brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and imprisoned for years. At no point in that story would you have looked at his life and said, “This is all working out beautifully.” But God was working.

Ruth was a destitute foreign widow gleaning at the edge of someone else’s field, now that’s a picture of someone whose story had run out. But God was working.. 

The disciples sat in darkness on a Saturday between crucifixion and resurrection, convinced it was over. The revelation of Sunday had yet to hit them. But God was working. 

You may be living in a Saturday right now. You cannot see how what you’re enduring could possibly become anything good. That is a completely understandable place to be. But God’s working is often hidden from view until the moment He chooses to reveal it. The promise of Romans 8:28 is not that you will understand the plan, it is, that there is a plan and it is being worked out by a God whose love for you never waivers and whose purposes never fail. If you haven’t picked up today’s promise yet, here it is… GOD IS WORKING!!! 

And everything He puts His words to, turns out good. 

Reflection:
Is there a past difficulty you can now see God used for good in your life? What is the hardest thing right now that you struggle to believe God could use?