17TH JULY
Romans 8:28
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
God is using every circumstance in your life to shape you and use you for his purpose!
It can be hard for us to accept this idea of God using all things in this way. We know that God uses his word to renew our minds and transform us. We can accept that God uses our fellowship with other believers in this way and that his blessings in our lives assure us of his loving care for us. All things?
Yes!
It does not mean that God is pleased with all things. God grieves when you bear the brunt of someone else’s sin. He is angry when a drunk driver slams into the car of someone you love. He knows from his own experience on the cross what that physical and emotional pain you are experiencing is like, and he groans with you.
But God sits on his throne above all these things, and he overrules even the evilest purpose and uses even those fallen, evil or senseless things to accomplish his good purpose in your life. That means that you can embrace any circumstance you find yourself in (good or bad) as God’s opportunity for you to grow and to share the hope you have in God with others.
MAKE IT PERSONAL:
How can you use your painful experience to minister to people?