The third most cited or quoted Bible verse is found in Romans 8:28 and it says, “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.”
The good news is God works ALL things together for good—both His good and our good. As God is glorified, His people benefit. In other words, we serve the God of a ‘win-win’ and those who love God can absolutely trust His goodness, His power, and His will to work out ALL things for our good.
Here’s the deal, the promise that God works ALL things together for good does not mean that ALL things, taken by themselves, are good. We live in a fallen world and some things and events are decidedly bad. But God is able to work them together for good. He sees the big picture; He wrote the Master plan. Psalm 139:16 declares, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; ALL the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Paul’s life is a testament to how God works ALL things together for good. Paul suffered shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonment, murder attempts, temporary blindness, and more—ALL within God’s plan to spread the gospel (see Acts 9:16 and 2 Corinthians 11:24–27). Through it all, God was steadfastly working to bring about good and glorious results.
If Paul’s transformation is not enough evidence that God causes ALL things to work for the good, let’s time hop back to the beginning of the book. All throughout his life, Joseph trusted God no matter his good or bad circumstances. Joseph experienced plenty of bad things: kidnapping, slavery, false accusations, wrongful imprisonment, rejection, and famine. But in the end God brought things to a wonderful, life-affirming conclusion. God blessed Joseph’s entire family through those painful circumstances and through Joseph’s faith. (You can read about Joseph’s life beginning in Genesis 37.)
My beloved brothers and sisters, God is impartial, non-prejudicial, and what He does for one, He will do for another. Romans 2:11 confirms, “For God does not show favoritism.” ALL we need to do is trust and possess the confidence that, no matter our circumstances, situations, or environments, God is active and will conclude ALL things according to His good and wise design. With this knowledge we can learn to be faithful, confident, and content in ALL circumstances (see Philippians 4:11).
4GIVEN 