How Can God Work All Things Together for Our Own Good??? Romans 8:28-29

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28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 

Romans 8:28-30

This verse points to the sovereignty of God, as though God allows bad things to happen to us, He can turn them into good. Of course, the classic example is Jesus being put to death on the cross order to die for the sins of the world and then be raised from the dead. Paul was a persecutor of Christians, and God used his zeal for good, the conversion of many Gentiles. Peter denied three times, but Jesus turned it into good and told him three times to feed his sheep, which he did until his life was taken from him. 

This verse applies Christians, who have been called according to God's purpose. And we know this purpose was given to those who were predestined to be sons and daughters of God. And God uses all things that happen to us good or bad to transform into the image of His Son. To say it simpler we might say the purpose of all things is that we might become more "Christlike", or more like Jesus. 

Paul says something similar in Philippians 3:10 when he says, 

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Many times we read 8:28 on its own. Of course it is a great thing to claim that no matter what happens to us that God can use it for good. God had used many horrible things that have happened to human beings for good. To redeem means to buy back. But often we don't closely connect verse 28 and verse 29.

Why is this so important? Because when God works things together for good. most often this means that God can takes whatever happens to us to make us more Christ-like. Or, he can take what happens to us and draw someone else nearer to Christ. Once a person is saved, what Paul calls justification, the Holy Spirit leads us in the process of santication, or becoming holy. Not in the sense of becoming in a "holy roller", but set apart to look more like Jesus. 

So let's just say your parents abandoned you as a kid. This is obviously not a good thing. But you could have ended up in a great home, where you got to live a life so much better than you ever would have with your biological parents. Or, maybe through your adoptive parents, you became a Christian. And maybe you now work with other kids who have been abandoned by their parents and give them hope. There are many ways God can work all things (big and small) for his purpose which is to conform us to the image of his son. The trials in our lives purify us through the fire and we become refined. 

Is there something unfortunate happening in your life? Maybe it is a circumstance that was out of your control, a health problem, or a broken relationship. If you love God, He can use it for good in your life to make you more mature in your faith and more like Christ. As you become more like Christ, you will attract others to want to know Christ, which is yet another way God works all things together for good! 

Praise God for his wisdom and creativity that he can take anything that happens to us and weave it into a beautiful tapestry that looks all "knotty" on one side, but on the other side we see the image of Christ! In this way we can count it all joy to suffer trials of many kinds because it produce in us a Christlike character, which is our primary witness to the world of who we serve!