All Things For Good, Pt. 2

December 10th, 2024
by Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Romans 8:28 We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Oftentimes there is a difference between what we think is “good” and what God knows is good. What we think is good is often bad, and what God knows to be good is always what He accomplishes in and through us—even the most gut-wrenching experiences over the course of our lives. The question is, How do I handle what I deem as “bad” in my life? Do I cry out, Unfair! and rail against God and His ways? Will I seek sympathy from others? Will I play the victim and use some unfortunate event in my life as some kind of twisted leverage against God for His seemingly unfair treatment of me? In sum, do I think that all things that happen to me are working against me, or can I actually come to the place through my unfortunate circumstances to believe that God is using every event in my life “for good”?
In Genesis 37-50, there was a man named Joseph who endured the most unfair of treatments. Though he had nothing to do with it, he was the favored son of his father Jacob. Jacob had eleven others sons, but since Joseph was the firstborn son of his favorite wife Rachel, he received special treatment from his father. Of course his brothers took notice, predictably becoming jealous and resentful of Joseph. So, they concocted a plan to get rid of Joseph. At first they planned to kill him, but later they decided to sell him. So Joseph ended up a slave in Egypt through no fault of his own. With all things seemingly working against him, life must have seemed pretty unfair to Joseph.

As the story of Joseph unfolds, it becomes clear that God never abandoned Joseph. In fact, within 13 years, Joseph was in command of all Egypt, second only to the Pharaoh. He became the man God used mightily to preserve Egypt during a seven-year famine. The Egyptians had Joseph to thank for their welfare. God indeed blessed Joseph greatly, and eventually reunited him with his brothers and his father Jacob. When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers who had conspired to sell him into slavery and lie to their father about his death, he responded to them saying, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good... (Gen. 50:20). In other words, Joseph viewed his life as choreographed by God for good, not as one cursed by God.

As for Jacob, Joseph’s father, he played the victim. Sure, he had been seemingly bereaved of his son Joseph along with his favorite wife Rachel. In addition, the Egyptians were holding his son Simeon in captivity, and they wanted Benjamin, his youngest son by Rachel, to appear before them in order to set Simeon free. Jacob said, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me” (Gen. 42:36).

Sometimes we just want sympathy. We’re feeling sorry for ourselves, and so we want everyone else to as well. Although this may appear trivial, in reality it is a great sin, for it puts God’s goodness in question. We want people to pity us at God’s expense. Once we recognize this sin, however, we can repent of it, refuse to dishonor God, and embrace our circumstances as God’s plan for us to work for good—our good and His glory.

Let us now consider our Lord Jesus Christ. When He wept, it was never for Himself but always for others—for Mary’s ignorance regarding Lazarus’ death (John 11), for Jerusalem’s unbelievers (Luke 19), and for the so-called “Daughters of Jerusalem” (Luke 23:28-29). He wept when folks failed to understand that God is working out all things for good for those who love Him. All of God’s judgments are righteous and true (Psa. 19:9), so whatever He does is good. Now since He loved us to unto death, won’t He also do what is good for us, always? Never doubt what God is doing because everything He does is for our good and His glory.