Affirmation, part 4

Here is the fourth affirmation: “All things that take place today — including the irritations and disappointments — will work together for your good. Romans 8:28 is still in the Bible.” It refers to this familiar verse, which (in the English Standard Version) reads: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” 

“We know.” It isn’t what we know, but the one we know: the God we are coming to know and love. He is full of love and goodness. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). He is looking for people, like us, who are seeking for Him. He even gives us love so that we can love Him as He loves us. God is not one to hold back—He searches out every opportunity to give us of Himself. “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). Jesus made this point to his disciples: “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil [earth-bound], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:10-13).

We may doubt this truth about God when we consider what we know of “reality on the ground.” In the fourteenth chapter of John, Jesus twice reassured the disciples who were sharing the Passover with him. “Let not your hearts be troubled.” Soon he would go to the cross. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (verse 1). “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (verse 27). The irritations and disappointments we face today are no more momentous than the events that the disciples were about to face. What is the remedy? Believe in the Father and the Son. The Father’s attention is on His Son. He loves His Son. He has exalted His Son. Because the Father has placed us in the Son, we also are exalted. In the Son we have all good things, including direct access to the Father. In their relationship we know the source of an enduring, trustworthy peace that can overcome our irritation, our disappointment and our fear.

God works, in everything, “for good.” But what is good from God’s perspective? In Jeremiah 17:5-8 the prophet wrote, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Cursed [disapproved of God] is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come…. Blessed [approved of God] is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.’” The individual who trusts in himself turns away from the Lord and will experience no good; we who trust in the Lord keep drawing from His life and will experience fruitfulness.

Bearing fruit, where humanity is concerned, has to do with displaying the characteristics of the Son. God’s good is directed toward a purpose. The fruit we bear—by the life that Jesus imparts to us—is not for ourselves but for others. Consequently, “good” goes beyond “my good.” We receive good from God so that we will share His good with others, especially other believers. Ultimately, we receive good so that we can work with God toward fulfilling the purpose that He had in creation.

Good is not necessarily pleasant for us. God is the conductor of a great orchestra, as well as the composer of the score. He knows how to combine all the parts to bring good to each individual believer, and to the whole company of believers. Sometimes an unexpected pause in the music brings a period of silence. We don’t understand why. Sometimes the sections of the ensemble clash and the sound is frankly dissonant. It seems all wrong. He will resolve everything into harmony. 

Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Your promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
Offered me within Your holy word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.
(Day by Day, Carolina Sandell Berg, third stanza)

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