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)

Romans 8:28 is one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible. I've mentioned it before on my blog. It has carried me through many difficult places and reminded me that even when I do not understand what I'm going through or why a trial has come, I have the assurance that God intends it for my good. I believe what this verse says with all my heart. And God has proven the truth of this promise over and over again in my life, through a variety of different challenges and circumstances. But I have found that with each new challenge, this verse takes on new depth. It becomes easier to believe the truth of this assurance because of the many times God has been faithful. It's a scripture we can lean on in any situation. I know because I have leaned and God has used it to keep me standing.

This was part of my John Stott Bible Study (daily email subscription) today. And I just had to share it:

We do not always understand what God is doing, let alone welcome it. Nor are we told that he is at work for our comfort. But we know that in all things he is working towards our supreme good. And one of the reasons we know this is that we are given many examples of it in Scripture. For instance, this was Joseph’s conviction about his brothers’ cruelty in selling him into Egypt: ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good...the saving of many lives’ (Gen.50:20). Similarly Jeremiah wrote in God’s name a letter to the Jews in Babylonian exile after the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem: ‘”I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”’ (Jer.29:11). The same concurrence of human evil and divine plan has its most conspicuous display in the cross, which Peter attributed both to the wickedness of men and to ‘God’s set purpose and foreknowledge’. (Acts 2:23; cf. 4:27f.).

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