All Things

Last week when the weatherman reported, “Sunny later on today,” I said, “Yeah, right…” to myself.  It looked dark, dreary, and cold out the kitchen window as the wet wintry mix of rain and snow was falling to the ground.  I also heard myself say, “I don’t believe it” when I looked up at the bright blue sky a couple of hours later.  As I spoke those words, I was reminded how frequently I’ve spoken these words.  There have been numerous times as I’ve read Scripture that I’ve told the author, Jesus, or Our Father, “Yeah, right…” only to come back and say, “I don’t believe it” later on.

One of the passages of Scripture that I’ve repeatedly said, “Yeah, right…” to is Romans 8:28 where Paul says, “All things work for good…”  Those words were usually followed by, “What good can come out of this?”  And later, sometimes much later, I’ve exclaimed, “I don’t believe this” because of how that useless incident had come to be a valuable part of my life.  Over and over again, Paul’s words, “All things work for good…” have proven to be true in my life, but even more so after I heard what Paul said in the next verse.  Paul said, “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

From the very beginning, God had a plan for us.  Like a good Father, He wants us to grow up to be in an intimate relationship with Him.  Our Father allows all things to happen to us so that we will always be looking for and finding comfort, strength, confidence, and security (faith) in Him—so that we can become like Jesus, our big Brother.