My Good

"And 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."--Romans 8:28

Every good Christian knows that verse. You probably even memorized it in Sunday school when you were a kid. It's comforting to know that all things work together for our good. "All" means everything, even the bad stuff.

But what is the "good" that the all is working together for?

Kids at VBS (and even some of us adults in the Western world) probably think that "good" is a new house, a white picket fence, 2.5 kids, great job, fancy watch, football on the weekends--you know, the American Dream. We paste this verse all over our t-shirts and wall art like a good luck charm, reminding ourselves that even if we didn't get that promotion, or even if our significant other breaks it off, surely our life goals will come to pass because God is on our side.

I'm not here to say that God is against our dreams or life goals. But I think the "good" in this verse has nothing to do with material blessings or our own goals achieved. It has to do with what Jesus died for on the cross. And, surprise surprise, that wasn't a two-car garage or a Tiffany engagement ring (sorry, ladies). It has to do with complete restoration of relationship with the Father.

Let's let scripture interpret scripture:

"My flesh and my heart may fail, 
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works."
--Psalm 73:26-28

The measure of how "good" your quality of life is not the size of your bank account or how many cupholders your car has. Your "good" is directly related to how near you are to the Father. 

Paul had been sent to prison, beaten, shipwrecked, dragged before courts, ridiculed, and hated. When he said "all things," he wasn't talking about getting broken up with or missing his vacation flight or somebody gossiping about him at work. He was talking about solitary confinement in a tiny cell with rats and open sores and no food and the threat of execution. How could someone say that those things worked together for his good?

Because his "good" wasn't his circumstances. His "good" was knowing the Father's heart. And I bet he learned a whole lot about the Father's heart in those dangerous, scary, unpredictable situations.

I'm not saying that God gives us "bad things" in our lives just to test us. I think bad things happen because we live in a fallen world. But I think the great redemption of the cross is that God takes what the enemy intended to destroy us and turns it around 180 degrees to bless us, if we are willing to see that He wants to use every circumstance in our lives to draw us close. 

We were created to be in God's family. The greatest good we can experience is to be near to Him, loving Him, becoming like Him. That's what we were made for. That's the end He has in mind. And if we are in Christ, He does everything in His power (and that's a lot of power, like the kind that generates galaxies) to turn everything that happens, positive or negative, small or big, into something that gets us right up under His wing. 

I can guarantee you that God has bigger plans for your life than you do. And His plans involve you becoming the image of His Son. Looking like Jesus means being close to the Father. 

Read the rest of Romans 8: 

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified. 
     What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?.....But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The extent and finality of Jesus' victory is astounding. NOTHING can work against you. There is no situation that He can't redeem. His blood is the trump card. It destroys the enemy at every turn.

His mercy is just that great: that when we feel hopeless in our circumstances, He's working it for our nearness to Him. And, just like a good good father, He knows that no enemy can come near us when we are in His arms. And THAT'S good.