God Means It

Romans 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (NKJV)

This is a very familiar passage of Scripture to most believers — so familiar, in fact, that we are in danger of totally misinterpreting it.

What if God's purpose, at times, seems almost cruel in our eyes? That is when we must trust our Lord in His divine wisdom to fulfill this promise in a way that we never could have dreamed, "far more than we could ever ask for or imagine". (Ephesians 3:20 NIRV)

In February 2013, I was involved in a car accident that caused damage to the right side of my body. This included a whiplash, resulting in numbness in the fingers and thumb of my right hand, and badly torn ligaments on the outer side of my knee, resulting in being unable to walk without the help of a walker or a cane for over four months.

During this stressful time, different friends have kindly supplied me with meals, because I was unable to stand long enough to make my own. One lady offered to walk my dog three times a day, despite the fact that she had a serious heart condition and was always very short of breath. As the days grew into weeks, her breathing problems gradually began to diminish, to the point of her being able to breathe freely. She tells everyone she sees, that walking this dog has been such a blessing and that she is feeling much better.

During this time, I have had to keep my legs raised so that they would heal faster. As a result, I was able to work on my manuscript without any distractions.

In summary, had I not been injured, my friend would not have offered to walk my dog, and her health would have continued to deteriorate. I would have undoubtedly continued to take on too many responsibilities and would have felt anxious and pressured because I didn't have enough time to devote to my manuscript.

Did God plan it all? I don't think so, because He is not the author of evil. But He proved the truth of His promise in today's Scripture by working good out of my accident, and He showed me, once again, that what He says, He will do.

We talk a lot about believing in God's Word, but all too often, we seem to forget what that really means. I invite readers to pay careful attention to the number of times when we see God working seemingly bad things out for good in our lives. Each time we are aware of such an occurrence, no matter how small it may appear at the time, we will find the foundation of our faith being strengthened, which will in turn, greatly increase our trust in both God's wisdom and His Word.

Prayer: Father, thank You for providing us with opportunities to exercise the faith that we proclaim, thereby bringing glory to You. Amen.