God’s Highest Good for Me
“We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8.28). We know because God either causes or allows all these things to happen in our lives. It is in this way that God is behind all things that happen to me. If God is behind everything that happens in my life, then there is a good hidden within what appears to be tragic. If this is not true, God is not God. But it is true because God is always good. The fact that God is good is an anchor for me. It is a stabilizing truth.
I only find it hard to trust God when I let go of the goodness of God. Jesus said you must hate father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and your own life to be His disciple. Jesus was talking about choices. If I will be His disciple today, I must choose Him before all people or things, even my own life. If I love God, I put His will first in my life. If I am such a person, God can work all things together for my good and His glory. If I do not choose to love God today, I will be miserable.
The called are the invited. But the invited often choose to decline an invitation. Even believers refuse Jesus’ invitation to come to Him. But today I am among those who love God. I am among those who freely accept His invitation. I am among the called and I will respond. I am invited by God to follow His plan in alignment with His Spirit. I will walk in accordance with the Spirit and in accordance with the purpose or plan of God. What is God’s plan or purpose? Generally, is to display His righteousness by becoming a mature child of God. God’s purpose is that I would glorify Him. This means I must trust Him to work all things together for good.
Jim Oesterwind is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Antioch, CA. He blogs at Sun and Shield.
Photo by Radmila Miheeva on Unsplash