Wednesday, March 26 ~ A Good Purpose

~~Romans 8:28
We know that all things work together for good, for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.  

~~Paul’s affirmation is far more than wishful thinking. He certainly has had ample opportunity to know how God’s love has pervaded his own hardships and sufferings. And can’t we all look back and see that events which seemed to be disasters actually worked out for good? And perhaps we grew a bit because of them. Through faith in God’s love we have seen that there was a guiding hand at work through all.
This is not some Pollyanna assumption. There is nothing in the construction of the universe to encourage an easy optimism that everything will turn out okay. Some situations are bad; and they don’t miraculously become good; but through the grace of God they lose their power to defeat us.
Paul insists that God has a purpose which is at the heart of the world which God has made, and we are a part of that purpose. Instead of becoming embittered by our sufferings, we can enter into and work with God’s purpose and rise to a level of mastery over circumstances so that good can come out of evil. This is not our own doing; it is God at work in all things. As we respond to God’s love and cooperate with God’s eternal purpose, good things can happen.
Loving God, give me the wisdom to look beyond my own situation and know your loving purpose to the extent that my difficulties become insignificant in comparison. Amen.
Henry Hanna