Today I had a disappointment. No biggie. All of us have them to one degree or another. Some are small annoyances, while others are life changing. So, as I was sitting here at my desk I was a bit annoyed, I admit. But, then I ‘happened’ to read Romans 8:28- “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”. Many of us know that and recite it in difficult times. It doesn’t say that everything that happens to us is good. It says that God takes all the things that happen to us and he ‘works them out’ or ‘mixes them together’ to come out for our good.
So it is with disappointments in our life. If we look at that one event in our life we could become very worried and discouraged. It’s easy to stop there and brood for awhile. But, if we take that event and give it over to God to ‘mix up’ or work out’, then, all of a sudden, we can relax. We can ‘let go and let God’ as that phrase from the 60’s says.
But, we do have a part to play in this also. The second part of that verse says ‘for the good of them that love him and are called according to his purpose.” Rick Warren says it so much better than I do:
”This is not a promise for everybody in the world. Not everything is working together for good for everybody. But everything is working together for good for those who say, “God, I give you my life. I want to fulfill the purpose you made me for.” And even then, it doesn’t say all things are good. It says they all work together for your good—even the bad and even the bitter.”
Not everything that happens to us is great, but if we actively give it over to him and say ‘whatever you have planned, here’s my life. Work this muddle out for your glory’, then he takes those things and does things that we couldn’t have imagined if we had stayed focused on our one little disappointment.
Oh, the marvelous things God can do when we yield to Him! One of the few perks of getting older is that I have had opportunity to witness this time and time again in my own life and in the lives of others. And yet, I still need to be reminded periodically. And that’s ok. That’s why he gave us his word to gently remind us of his love for us and his ability to make good out of bad.
So, I’m excitedly waiting to see how he takes this recent disappointment and works it out in a marvelous way that I can’t even imagine today.
Kathy Myers
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