And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).Most Christians know that verse. Most Christians rejoice in that verse. Of course, most of us think at some time or another, "It's not working." And that's when we come into those "exception" concepts. When our experience doesn't feel like God is working all things together for good, we start to come up with reasons for it.
One of the most common reasons offered is in the phrase "to those who love God". Almost everyone I've ever talked to about this verse makes "those who love God" a conditional phrase for the verse. So, if things aren't working out for you, maybe you just don't love God. You see?
I don't think so. It is my belief that this verse can accurately be stated, at its core, this way: "God causes all things to work together for good." Now, why would I think that? First, I think it because of two other biblical factors. 1) God is good. God isn't merely a good God. He defines good. Unlike everything else that is created -- that is compared to an external reference of what is "good" -- God is good and, as such, defines it. 2) God works all things after the counsel of His will. I don't know about you, but it seems that "all things" encompasses most anything I can think of. That means that everything that happens is caused or ordained by God. Putting these two factors together, we can simply say, "Everything that happens is caused or ordained by God who is good." The only possible conclusion, then, would seem that everything that happens is good. Oh, oh, be careful. I know. There is a fundamental problem with that. Not everything that happens is good in the sense of moral, right, just, and so on. So it would be more accurate to conclude that, since God is good and works all things after the counsel of His will, then God causes all things to work together for good, whether or not the thing is originally "good", moral, pleasant, right, or something like it.
So what about that catch phrase? It struck me one day when thinking about this that the preposition isn't right for the phrase to be considered a qualifier. Notice the preposition: "to". Now, if I wanted to convey that God works everything together for good only in the case of those who love God, then I wouldn't use "to"; I would use "for". It is good for those who love God. The "to" seems to convey something different. Here, let me put it in reverse and see if you get it: "To me, it is good." Do you see the difference? Not "It is good for me", but "to me". That is, "In my estimation, it is good."
As I said, it is my personal perspective on a popular passage. I think, however, that it fits perfectly with the God that I know. God works all things together for good. Period. End of sentence. Nothing else need be said. But what about those who don't experience it as such? Well, it is always ultimately for good, but it won't be necessarily good in the estimation of those who don't love God. That doesn't mean it's not good. It simply means that to them it is not good.
Let me try to give an overstated example. Because God is just as well as merciful, He has ordained that those who reject Him will be punished in Hell. Paul says that it's good. He says that God is displaying His power in so doing. That's good. Of course, you'll likely be hard-pressed to find someone in Hell who says, "Oh, yeah, this is good." But those who love God will rejoice in His judgment. They won't find the fact pleasant, but they will find it ... good.
I think that there is a clear and unavoidable case to be made that God causes all things to work together for good. We may not always see it as such. That doesn't mean that God's character has changed or that things have fallen outside of His will. It is my belief, because of who God is, that all that occurs is part of God's plan for good, even the unpleasant and the miserable things we experience. I don't believe that our capacity to love God determines whether or not He is going to work things together for good. And you cannot imagine the amount of comfort that brings when I experience things in life that just don't seem like they are good. It's my failure to understand, not God's failure to be good. What a relief!
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