He's in the business of GOOD!

As I tried to go to sleep last night I continued pondering Romans 8:28.  (Read Tell Me No Lies to see my previous ponderings.)  The scripture says that God works all things for good for those who love him.  Some versions say, "all things work together for good."  In my blog last night I likened it to fixing a messed up recipe, but it's not that God fixes the messes, instead He makes them good.  I thought about this and became grateful that God doesn't just fix stuff, but He decides to make it good, or make good of it.  To me fixing something is just putting it back together in it's original form.  But what if the original form was broken to begin with?  Then the fix won't hold.



One of my kitchen chairs broke some time ago.  A friend of mine worked some magic with some wood glue and a make-shift brace of grocery bags and fixed it.  It was back to it's original form, you could sit on it without fear of falling ... for a time.  By no fault of the fixer the fix didn't hold up very long and now is even more broken than it was before.  It has been tossed in the spare room until we either attempt to fix it again, or buy new chairs. (Which I just found 4 for $75... replacement and a few extras!)  Obviously there is some sort of flaw in the make of the chair.  This isn't the first I've had break.  If the original design is flawed fixing it will only work temporarily.  I believe that's why the scripture doesn't say that God will "fix" things for those who love Him, but rather will make them good.

The verses leading up to Romans 8:28 talk of the earth being pregnant and groaning for the things to come.  At the same time there is a groaning inside each of us for the things to come.  One of my favorite parts of the scripture is in verses 26 and 27.  This is what it says in the Message Bible, "Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. (28)That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good."  I love this part because so many times I have found myself with no idea how to pray.  Caught somewhere between faith and doubt, between "witchcraft prayers" and God's will, I found myself without words.  Just praying that God would have His way in the situation.

It reminds me of Hannah.  Hannah was passionately crying out to God to open her womb.  She prayed so long that words no longer came from her mouth, though her lips moved.  Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk.  She had purposed to "grab hold of the horns of the altar" and not let go until her prayer was answered.  And God did come through.  He not only opened her womb, but in all she had six children.  Samuel, the eldest, came to play a pivotal part in the epic events of Kings to come.

In the last several months I have felt like I was in that exact place.  White knuckled grip on the altar, no words to speak, only my lips moving, crying out to God to have His way and in the process give me peace.  "God make this mess into something good.  I know Your ways are higher than mine.  Have Your way and make this mess into something good." 

Romans 8 goes on to say this in the next verses, "God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.  So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us."

I have had several friends who have gotten married only to have their marriages end by no fault of their own.  Their spouses cheated and reconciliation wasn't possible.  I'm sure they all held on to the promise that God would work all things for good because they are people who love Him.  Two of those friends are now married to men that are absolutely perfect for them.  They are happier than they probably ever could have imagined.  God didn't fix the situation, He made it good.  He gave them good even though what they had on their hands was a mess. 

God is in the business of making good, turning bad things to good.  Whatever you are facing, whatever mess you have on your hands - God doesn't intend to just fix it.  He intends to make it good, to make something good of it.  He knows all and He's working it all like a carefully played chess game.  Yes, we are His pawns in this big game, but He's not in the loosing business!

I have a song pending along the lines of this scripture.  Right now I have what will probably be the chorus and bridge, but the verses have alluded me.  The more I study this scripture the more God shows me... hopefully it will come together soon!