Another look at Romans 8:28

We are continuing to look at Romans 8:28 that says, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them".

 God never wastes anything that happens to us in life. His goal is to use it all to make us into the image of His Son.

"The events of your life work together in God’s purpose for your life. They are not isolated acts but interdependent parts of the process to make you like Christ. Treating life as a series of disconnected episodes is a habit deeply rooted in many of us. We discern no pattern in the experiences and events coming from outside ourselves. We seem content to live life as a series of uncoordinated happenings. The dark riddle of life is illuminated in Jesus; the meaning, purpose, and goal of everything that happens to us, and the way to make it all count can be learned only from the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Living with this awareness is the key that unlocks the door to grasping the meaning of existence. All day and every day we are being reshaped into the image of Christ. Everything that happens to us is orchestrated to this end. Nothing exists outside of Him or is irrelevant, or without significance". (Colossians 1:16)

Brennan Manning, "Abba's Child" p. 109

Making Some Sense of the Mess in Oklahoma

 

Romans 8:28 is a verse that gets misused and  misquoted often. Here is what it says, "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose”. A better reading would be: “God works all things to the good to the ones loving God.” The focus is on God, not “all things”.

With the devastating tornado that just ripped through Oklahoma, some might be tempted to try and make sense of it by saying, "God will work this out for good. He will bring something good from it" - and I believe He can and will, BUT some will imply that God is the one who caused the tornado; that He had some predestined plan to wreak havoc on Moore, Oklahoma in order to teach them something. I'm sorry - I don't buy it. 
  

We live in a fallen, broken world. Evil and sin are rampant. This world is not God’s kingdom. It is under the authority and influence of Satan. The Bible calls him the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). He plays a major role in the sufferings and bad things that happen to us – however, he is not all-powerful and certainly does not have final word. But for now we experience suffering, hardships, tornadoes - (this is not how it will always be) and Paul is writing to believers in Rome to reassure them of a future glory.  (Read Romans 8 sometime)


But someone might argue: "Jesus Christ controls the wind, including all tornados” and support this claim by quoting Mark 4:41 in which Jesus’ disciples ask; “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” What’s interesting to me is that the disciples make this remark in response to Jesus having just rebuked a threatening storm. If Jesus was already controlling all storms, why on earth would he need to rebuke this one? Even more interesting, Jesus “rebukes” the storm by commanding it to be “quiet.” The Greek term used here literally means “to muzzle” or “strangle,” and its the same word he sometimes used when confronting demons. The implication is that, far from suggesting that Jesus controls all storms, the passage actually suggests that at least some life-threatening storms have a demonic power behind them that resists God’s good purposes. (thoughts from Greg Boyd's book "God at War")

Satan's time on this earth is coming to a close. He knows it and is steaming mad. Revelation 12:12 says, "Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time."
Revelation 20 goes on to tell what will eventually happen to this "snake". Verse 10 says, "And the devil...was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever".

Let's remember to pray for those affected by the storm. May God pour out comfort and hope to them, knowing that He can and bring something good out of that which Satan meant for evil.

5 Steps for Resolving Conflict

As long as you are in relationship with people, you will experience conflict. That is a fact of this human life. Here are some helpful steps from Rick Warren on how to resolve conflict:

1. Talk to God first before talking to the person. Pray about the situation instead of gossiping to a friend which only creates disunity. You will often discover that either God will change your heart or that of the other person.

2. Look to God for your sufficiency. Don't expect the other person to meet all your needs. Most conflict is rooted in unmet needs that can only be met by God. Instead of looking to God, we look to others to make us happy. This is not a healthy expectation. People will let you down. God never will.

3. Take the initiative. In Matthew 18, Jesus gave the command to go to your brother or sister directly. In conflict, time heals nothing. Communication is the key ingredient in minimizing conflict.

4. Empathize with the other person. Here them out. Stephen Covey said, "Seek first to understand, then be understood." The Bible says, "Be slow to speak, quick to listen." This is not the time to get defensive or start offering solutions. It's been said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

5. Confess your fault. Two of the most powerful words are, "I'm sorry".  This takes humility, even if you think you did nothing wrong. No one is perfect. Ask God to show you your part of this conflict. Confession is a powerful tool toward reconciliation.

Thankful for our Son

Psalms 127:3 "Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him".

Each morning at 7:00am, our dog Rascal and I go into the kids' bedrooms and wake them up for school while Tammy is preparing breakfast. This morning I woke up Spencer for the last time...It hasn't sunk in and probably won't until some time in August when he heads off to college. So I don't want to look forward too quickly. I want to live in the "now" while remembering with gladness the past.

Tammy and I have been going through pictures of Spencer when he was younger and it's been fun. In every picture, there is a story that we can recall. And we are blessed to re-live the memories.

Parents, you know how it is: You wish they could stay little for the rest of their life, but it doesn't happen that way. They do grow up and the awesome thing is - there will be even more great memories to make so you can re-live those in the future.

Tammy and I are so thankful for the gift that Spencer is to us. We do thank God for him and even though he is all grown up, I just have to share one of my favorite pics: 

Everyone say "AHHHHH"

Being The Church

From Rick Warren: "The greatest need in the world today is to release the latent energy bottled up in believers who are doing nothing for the Kingdom of God. It’s time for the Church to rise up and be the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ; but it seems like our hands and feet have been amputated, and most of the time we’re just a big mouth. It’s time for the Church to stop being known for what we’re against and start being known for what we stand for: grace, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, salvation, and new life in Jesus Christ".

I say "AMEN"