All Things Work Together Toward Good

Well, brethren, how could all things possibly work together for good? You may have thought about that yourself. I know I have many times considered what this scripture was talking about. I guess you know what scripture I'm talking about. Romans 8, 28 mentions how all things work together for good, and we'll go to that scripture in a bit. But all things does cover a lot of ground, doesn't it? For example, we could personally be born into a life of luxury or perhaps poverty. We could be born into a loving home with two loving parents or we could be born into no home at all. We could end up in an orphanage. We could be an only child. Or we could be one of a dozen. We could be handsome or pretty or maybe not so much so. We could be tall or short or possibly a midget. There are many things that could happen in our lives. We could be great at sports or we could be pretty lousy at sports. We could be really smart. Eggheads, so to speak, a real brainiac. Or we could be someone who is mentally challenged. There are many things that go on in life and we really don't know exactly what's going to happen to our children, for example. Before they're born, we don't know exactly what they're going to be like. In fact, we don't know much at all about them until they're here. Many things happen in life. The scenarios are endless. All things cover a lot of grounds. How could all these different things I've mentioned possibly work together for good? I don't think this scripture is talking about a lot of trivial matters. I don't think it matters a whole lot whether I wore a blue shirt or a white shirt today. I don't think it would matter a whole lot. There are some trivial things that this is obviously not talking about. But the bigger things in life, how could they possibly work together for good? For example, an illness where someone might be very sick for many years. Well, they probably couldn't work together for good unless the person they were happening to was one who was called by God according to his great purpose because that's also part of the scripture, isn't it? All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Also, notice I didn't say all things work together for best. The scripture doesn't say that all things work together for best. It says they work together for good. We'll talk more about that part of it a little bit later. So do you understand what this verse is talking about? I'm sure you understand certain aspects of it. I'd like to talk about it in greater depth today. This scripture is certainly one of the most thought-provoking ones, I think, in the Bible. So let's go to Romans 8, 28, and let's read this together. Romans 8, 28. Romans 8, 28. And this is obviously the apostle Paul who wrote this. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. Let's read this a little bit further. So God isn't calling everyone right now. He's calling those he has chosen to call or those he is predestined to call. He's not calling everyone. Moreover, whom he predestined these he also called, whom he called these he also justified, and whom he justified these he also glorified, or is in the process of glorifying. So God is the one who does the calling. He chooses who he's calling at this time. It's certainly up to those who are being called whether or not they're going to respond to that call. So we'll be talking about a number of these things as we go on today.

Sometimes it is difficult to believe that this scripture means what it says, that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. So truly all things, even the bad things, do work together for good when those who love God and are called by him yield to him and learn the lessons that he wants us to learn from the trials and the hardships that he does allow to come upon us.

So having faith in God through our trials and through our hardships is a vital lesson that we all must learn and apply in our lives. Now we've all seen quite a bit of hardship, a lot of trials from everyone basically that's been in the church for any length of time. We've all gone through trials. God doesn't exempt us from trials, does he? We might wish he did, but that's not the way it works. In fact, we're probably better off because of our trials. In fact, I'm sure we are better off, especially when we respond to those trials in a way that that God would want us to.

So Romans chapters 6, 7, and 8 are actually three chapters that are often used in counseling people for baptism. I would think probably most ministers, if not all ministers, rely heavily on these three chapters. I know I do. In fact, I go through these chapters verse by verse when I counsel someone for baptism.

Romans 6 is even referred to as the baptism chapter. It talks about how baptism does picture a burial, a death, and then also a resurrection. It talks about how sin brings death upon everyone who is a sinner. It talks about grace in this chapter. And certainly we are saved by grace. None of us are saved by lawkeeping. The wages of sin is death, and it is the gift of God that is eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ.

So chapter 6 is a very important chapter for us. Chapter 7 as well. In this chapter, Paul talks about how the law is holy and just and good. So Paul was certainly one who upheld the law of God. He wasn't one who tried to do away with the law, as so many people think. This Pauling theology that's twisted and mixed up. He also mentions in chapter 7 the struggle that we all have against sin and against our own human nature.

He says, O wretched man that I am, who's going to deliver me from this body of death? And he answers that by saying, I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And then chapter 8, I'm just talking a little bit about this to give a little bit more of a context to verse 28 of chapter 8. He talks about the carnal mind and how it's enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

It talks about how we're to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. And we are to produce the fruit of God's Holy Spirit in our lives. He talks about how we're joint heirs with Christ, and that we're destined to be the sons of God, and that we are suffering now, but our suffering should not be compared to the glory that we will know when Christ returns.

So, it is very important, again, that we get the context and understand that we're all in this together. God is working with each and every one of us, and He's allowing trials to come upon us so that we might learn character, that we might grow in character, and that we might be perfected, that we might become better servants of God Almighty and His Son Jesus Christ.

So, again, verse 28, we know that all things work together for those who love God. So, that's a prerequisite as well. We have to love God, or these things are not going to work out necessarily for our good. But when we love God and we understand our purpose, that makes all the difference as to how we respond to our trials and what we learn from our trials.

So, I submit to you that an attitude of thankfulness and gratefulness makes all the difference in the world in regard to how we face life's challenges. And when we understand our calling, and when we understand what God is doing, and if this is just temporary, what's happening here on the earth, these physical things that happen to us are temporary, then we can understand why God allows trials and why He allows these physical things to happen to us that are so difficult for us. So, how thankful are you for all the things that God allows in your life? Is that something that comes naturally for you, that you're thankful for the things that come along? I don't know that it comes natural for any of us to be thankful for severe trials, but we can learn to think in different ways when we understand, again, what God is doing. How can we become more thankful for all the things that happen in our lives? How can we develop a genuine attitude of thankfulness? So, I'd like to talk about five important principles that we learned from Romans 8, 28, and how they can help us to develop a genuine attitude of thankfulness. And the first one is, we must all come to believe, ultimately, that all things come from or are allowed by God, even the bad things. We have to realize that God either orchestrates some things in our lives or He certainly allows them to happen. In other words, God is not off somewhere and doesn't care about what happens in our lives.

It's important that we realize that God knows what's going on down here. He may not choose to intervene miraculously, perhaps, and change things dramatically for us, but He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. So, during the darkest times, we should realize that God is always there for us. So, all things come from or are allowed by God, even the bad things. We can't just blame Him on Satan. God allows them for a reason. God is ultimately in charge.

Now, Satan is presently the God with a little g of this present evil world. Scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, that he is the God of this world. But remember, God with a big g allows it in English anyway. He allows it. God is the God over all things. He is over this vast universe and beyond. In fact, it says He inhabits eternity. That's hard for us to comprehend. We can't comprehend eternity because we have finite minds. We're physical, finite beings. We have a beginning. God has always been. He inhabits eternity. God does not do evil. God is perfect. God is righteous. God is good. He does not do evil, but He has allowed evil things to happen. And frankly, He does this for His overall purpose, or at least He uses it for His overall purpose of expanding His family for all eternity and for teaching us things that we need to learn. God is in the process of building a family from those He has made in His image and in His likeness. He is building Godly character, His character, in human beings.

Now, we know that physical muscle is developed through physical resistance. Some of you may work out. You may pump some iron. Maybe if you don't now, you're used to.

And that physical resistance helped develop muscle.

Spiritual muscle or spiritual character is also developed through spiritual resistance.

The Scripture tells us to resist Satan. It says he'll flee from us when we do that.

Of course, the Scripture also tells us that we are to submit to God. Draw near to Him, submit to Him, He will draw near to us. So, through spiritual resistance and also through submission, we develop character.

Character is built by submitting to God and by doing His will, not our own.

We're not building a lot of character when we do our own will. It's when we do God's will that we are developing character, godly character.

When we know what is right and we choose to do what is right, we are developing spiritual character. When we go the other way and decide to do that, which we know is wrong, then, of course, we're tearing down some of that muscle, that spiritual muscle or that character. So, it is important that we learn to submit to God and to His will in our lives. It's also important that we resist Satan vehemently, that we rebel against Satan, you might say. There's some rebellion that's good, but that's only when it's against Satan the devil. We rebel against him. We learn to submit to God. When we resist Satan and our carnal nature, again, we develop that spiritual character that God wants us to develop so that we might be in His kingdom. God does say we have to be overcomers, and that's what overcoming is all about. We overcome this human nature. We overcome Satan the devil. We overcome this world, and by doing so, we are developing spiritual character. We're growing in righteousness, and we're growing in spiritual character. Turn with me to the book of Job. Job is a fascinating book, as we all know, in Job chapter 1. Let's go to the beginning of Job, and remember why Job was selected. It wasn't because Job was a huge sinner, was it? Job was selected because he was the most righteous person on earth. Job chapter 1, verse 8, the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns or eschews evil, hates evil. Job was a perfect and upright man. In fact, God was using him as an example of how man can actually be righteous. He was also, I think, for sure, going to make Job even more righteous in the process, but there were a lot of trials that were going to be coming Job's way. In fact, we're not going to take the time to read it all, but it shows basically how everything was taken away from Job except his wife. His wife wasn't taken away. We may see why in a few minutes, but his children were taken away, his property was taken away, his riches were taken away, his livestock was taken away, his health, all of it was taken away from him.

In fact, there was a tornado or something that came and wiped out his home and wiped out his children in different ways. You can read about it later, but notice Job's reaction in verse 20.

Then Job arose, he tore his robe, he shaved his head, he fell to the ground, and he worshiped.

He worshipped God, and he said, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. This is showing a certain attitude and approach that Job had. The Lord gave, and the Lord is taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now, that's huge.

That kind of attitude and approach is huge when trials come upon us. If we can look at things that way, then we're well on our way to being able to endure and overcome our trials. In verse 22, in all of this, Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

Many people would have blamed God for this disaster that came upon them, but he didn't blame God for it.

But let's go down to chapter 2, and it talks about how Job's health is stricken. He has boils from the sole of his feet to the top of his head.

And he was miserable, absolutely miserable, and he lay down in the ashes to scrape himself.

The closest I can get to this is when I had poison ivy all over my body, and I scraped the poison ivy, and I even put bleach on it and did some crazy things to try to stop the itching.

But notice what his wife said to him, and maybe this is why he didn't take his wife away. Although we can't say for sure. Now, let me also say that we might all react as she did. She lost all of her family. She lost her riches. She lost her husband's health. She lost practically everything herself. But his wife said to him, she did have a different approach. We have to admit that there was a different approach here. His wife said to him, Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.

But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?

In all this, Job did not sin with his lips.

So Job did not speak out against God, against what he was doing. He realized that his wife or his wife was not taking the best approach here. He did not follow along with her in this case. Now, in the book of 2 Corinthians 12, we see that Paul had a similar insight in regard to suffering and trials. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 12. Not that Paul went through exactly what Job did, but Paul went through a lot, didn't he? He was stoned, left for dead, shipwrecked. He was starving at times. He went through an awful lot. I'd say Job and Paul are among the ones that we read about in the Bible anyway that suffered tremendous trials and hardships and afflictions. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 8. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 8. Concerning this thing, this thorn in the flesh. We don't know exactly what this was. It could have been his eyesight, but I don't know that we really can say for sure exactly what it was. I don't know that the Scripture reveals exactly what it was. People have speculated about a number of things. But, regardless, he had this thing that was afflicting him. He says in verse 8, Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in the power of Christ, take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses. For Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. So again, he's showing a certain attitude toward trials and toward afflictions. If we can stand up strong against these trials and know that God loves us and know that God is there, know that God cares about us, that he's aware of what's going on, and that he will also give us the strength to endure those trials, well, then we can approach it in the way that Job did and in the way that Paul did.

He says he came to glory in his infirmities because again, he knew that God knows best. God was allowing it. God has promised not to tempt us or bring a test upon us. That is too great for us. God will be there to help us endure any test or any trial that comes along if we rely on God. And if we look to him and we have faith in him. So, brethren, let us respond to life's challenges, to life's trials and hardships based on our ironclad faith in the unfailing character and the perfection of God. I'm going to say that one more time because you may not have got that. Let us all respond to life's challenges, life's trials, life's hardships based on our ironclad faith in the unfailing character and the perfection of God. You know, God is perfect. God doesn't make mistakes. God allows all things for a reason, for a purpose, and those who love God and are called according to his purpose can benefit from whatever it is that God allows to happen to us. Because God has unfailing character and he is perfect. Also, let us respond to life's challenges, to life's trials and hardships in our love and faithfulness to God, knowing again that he'll never leave us and he'll never forsake us. If we can always keep that uppermost in our minds, that he has promised that he will never leave us, he'll never forsake us, that Christ is always there, that Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If we know that with all of our being, then that will certainly help us to respond to life's challenges and trials and hardships in a proper way, with love and with faithfulness.

And also, another thing, let us never respond to these challenges, these trials, these hardships in a negative way because we're concerned about losing temporal physical things.

Temporal physical things. Let's keep in our mind the big picture, those things that are spiritual, those things that are eternal, those things that last forever. That's the way we need to respond to these challenges that come our way. I know that's easier said than done because we're all flesh and we react in fleshly ways. But that doesn't mean to say that we can't learn to act in more spiritual ways and in more godly ways. So let's all choose to be more grateful and thankful to God in the midst of our trials from this day forward. So that's point number one. Again, point number one was we must come to understand that ultimately all things come from or are allowed by God, even the bad things. God allows it. God's in charge. God's in control. God could stop it if He chose to. If He doesn't choose to, then it's for our own good. Somehow, some way, hard to believe. Doesn't mean it's for the best necessarily, but it's for our good.

Now let's go on to a second principle that we can learn from Romans 8, 28. Help us to have a more thankful attitude, and that is we must come to realize that all things that God allows or orchestrates in our lives have the potential to reap good benefits. I've said that a number of times in a number of ways, but I want to differentiate that from the first point. The first point was God allows it. God knows what's going on. The second point is that it can turn out good. That's the second point, that it can turn out for good. Even the bad things that He allows remember how Joseph was sold into slavery, thrown in the pit and then taken off by the Midianites into slavery. And then he was later imprisoned, if you remember that, because he was falsely accused of doing something with Potiphar's wife that he didn't do. And he was imprisoned for that. And then the, I guess it was the, well, anyway, it was the butler and the baker and the thing that went on with them. And they forgot about him and left him down there. The one was killed. The other one, I guess it was the baker that was killed, right? The baker was killed, the butler was spared, but the butler forgot about him. And he stayed in prison for quite a while longer.

He was probably wondering how all of this was going to work together for good. It didn't seem that great at the moment, I don't think, even though he was given great favor in prison, you might remember. And even then he made the best of it. He was sold into slavery by his own jealous brothers, but ultimately it worked out for good. Not only for Joseph, but for even Joseph's family, for his father, his parents, his brothers, sisters, and for all of Egypt. Because he made decisions as one of the leaders right below Pharaoh that allowed them to survive the famine, the severe famine that came upon Egypt. So you never know how things are going to work out. So it's important to realize that it's all going to work out for good in the end, if you'll just stay faithful and trust in God and believe that it's going to.

And have that simple faith that we all need to have that ultimately it's going to work out for good.

God is good. He's gracious. He really does love us. He's proven that, hasn't he? He's proven that through the sacrifice of his son. He gave his only begotten son who was with him from the very beginning. Remember John 1, verse 1. They were there together in the beginning. They loved each other. They were at one, as no two beings have ever been. He has proven through the ultimate sacrifice of his son that he loves us, that he's willing to give up all for us. Christ has proven his love for us also by being the perfect sacrifice for us. So what does God think about you? It is important that we keep in mind, yes, God loves you. He gave his son for you. Jesus died for you. And also in Jeremiah chapter 29, it's good to remember, how he felt about the Israelites who sinned against him, who he allowed to go into captivity.

And many died. In fact, many were starving to death. Some even turned to cannibalism because of the hardships that they were going through and what they were suffering. But what does he say about these people? Jeremiah chapter 29 and his approach toward them. Jeremiah chapter 29, how did God feel about these sinners? Certainly God hates sin. He abhors sin. But notice verse 11, chapter 29. He inspired Jeremiah to write down here, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, says the eternal thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. God has good thoughts toward us, thoughts of peace, not of evil. He wants to give us a future. He wants us to have hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you. And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all of your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity. God's always been faithful. He's punished people when they turned against him, when they send against him. But when they've repented, he's always been there to accept them back.

So I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil. So we should always realize that. God isn't hating you when he allows things to happen to you.

He's loving you through it all.

Now, I'm going to mention something that in some ways it's trivial, but it's certainly minor compared to many trials that you've had and that others have faced and that are facing right now. It's a small thing, but the reason I'm going to mention it is because even the small things can affect us, can't they? Because we're human. And the little things sometimes hurt us as well.

Sometime ago when our grandson was born, it wasn't long before we heard that he had a club foot. And I may have mentioned this to you before. I don't know. I probably have. But that was devastating for our daughter because she didn't know how bad it was going to be. She didn't know how it was going to affect him throughout his life, whether or not he would be able to play sports or whether he'd walk funny or what kind of ridicule might come as a result of having a club foot.

So in the beginning, it seemed like a huge trial, but even then it's a very small trial compared to what so many people face. But it did affect my daughter a lot and she cried about it. My wife and I cried when we heard about it. You know, it's hurtful when something like that, even though in many respects it's a minor thing, it still hits us where we live.

And we should keep that in mind whenever trials are happening to other people. If it's a trial for them, it's a trial for them. Even if you think it may not be that big a deal, it may be a really big thing for them. So we should keep that in mind and not judge people harshly when it comes to our trials. You know, we all react differently to trials. We have a different background, you know, depending on how we've grown up, depending on what's happened in our lives, depending on a lot of things, we're going to react differently to trials. Some of you may think someone's being wimpish or, you know, they're being a wimp and how they respond to their trial, but if you were in the same shoes therein, you might be even worse.

You know, if you grew up in the same manner, in the same way, if your genetics were the same, if everything was exactly the same, you might do even worse than they are. So you should keep that in mind when you start to look down on someone or you start to think more highly of yourself than you do of someone else.

When you think of them as being weak and you are stronger, that's dangerous ground. So I just bring that up because even in this case of the club foot, and it turned out great because you wouldn't know it now. He had to wear this little snowboard thing around for probably a year and a half or two years or something like that. He had to wear it during the day.

He even had to wear it at night, at times, for part of the time. But it helped straighten out his foot. You wouldn't know it today, but it worked out for good because my daughter was drawn closer to him immediately. He was suffering, and so she was suffering. He probably didn't know he was suffering. He didn't realize it. In fact, he probably didn't like that thing on his feet, but it was for his own good. So they did it, and obviously his dad as well.

It brought them both closer to Xander. It brought my wife and I closer to Xander and closer to our daughter. So those things do work out for good if you can see the good in them. So the second point, again, is these things will work out for good if you'll trust God and if you believe.

I know that's not easy when you first hear of a trial. A sickness, an illness, whatever it might be. But try to look beyond that and realize that there is something good that's going to come out of it. Now, a third principle, and I mentioned this one as well, all things work together for good, but not best. We don't have to think it's going to necessarily be the very best when something happens. Sometimes we make foolish mistakes and our lives would have been better if we hadn't brought that trial upon ourselves.

That doesn't mean it can't still work out for good. Mistakes that we make, sins that we commit, that have consequences. Those things can work out for good, maybe not the best. I mean, it's better to have never sinned in the first place, right? I mean, it's better to have never sinned in the first place, right? Then we don't have to mess with the consequences. Or it could be someone else's sin against us.

Sometimes people sin horrendously against other people, and it would be better if that never happened. It would be best if that never happened. But that doesn't mean that it can't still work out for good, depending on our attitude and our approach.

With God's Spirit and with an attitude of wanting to gain everything that we can from an experience that comes along, we can learn to serve God better. We can learn to serve mankind better. We can truly choose to have all things work together for good. In many ways, it is a choice. Are you going to choose to have this thing work out for good?

Or are you going to get bitter? Are you going to blame God? How are you going to react?

We do have an opportunity to choose how we're going to react to things. We don't have to just react. We can choose how we're going to react. So a lot of that depends on us. It depends on our attitude toward things. Again, we must believe this scripture in Romans 8, 28 that it can work out to our benefit somehow, some way.

Bitterness and continually dwelling on what could have been doesn't help either.

So it's better to get our minds focused as it says in Philippians 4, verse 8. Think on whatsoever things are good. Whatsoever things are pure. Whatsoever things are lovely. Whatsoever things are a virtue. Learn to think on those things and don't dwell on the negative. Don't dwell on what might have been, what could have been. Learn to accept reality and learn to deal with it. Many times it takes years to get beyond a trial before we see the real good that's coming from it. So it is important to be patient as well as you are waiting for something to turn out for good. So we all have to deal with internal struggles at times.

And that can be very difficult. But know that we're all in this together. We all have to suffer from various trials and we have to respond in ways that would be healthy for us. So let's help each other. When you see someone going through a trial, rather than judge them for the way they may be responding to it, try to help them. You know, try to help them see the big picture. But be careful because if you start to get too preachy, they may not appreciate that either. So you have to delicately work with people, be patient for people or with people, and be a good friend to them.

If a trial seems easy, are we really going to be strengthened by it all that much? I mean, trials can be hard. Sometimes we learn the most from the biggest trials. Okay, let's go on to a fourth principle that we can learn. The third one again was, all things work together for good, not necessarily best, but they do work together for good.

And then a fourth principle we can learn from this verse, Romans 8, 28, all things produce character in us, even bad things, when we respond in the proper way, as people who love God and are called according to His purpose. So all of these things can help us produce character. And that's really what God's most interested in, is helping us learn to be overcomers, to develop character in our lives, to become like Him. You know, God is perfect. God is righteous. He wants us to learn righteousness.

We can learn righteousness by the things that we suffer. Let's go to James chapter 1.

This is a verse that you may have struggled with yourself. I think I have to some degree, trying to understand it fully. What is this verse saying? James chapter 1.

James chapter 1 verse 2. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Count it all joy. That just doesn't even seem right, does it? To count it all joy when you're having these trials? Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. So we do learn patience by the things that we suffer. We do develop character by the things that we do suffer. So it is important, again, to try to take that approach when something happens. Something bad happens. Count it all joy when you have a trial. And again, try to see the good that may come from that trial. When we suffer or experience pain or loss, we have the opportunity to develop contentment. We can learn to be peaceful people. We can learn to be patient people.

We can learn to be thankful people. And we can learn to be humble people.

When we suffer or experience pain or loss, that is an opportunity to develop peace of mind, contentment, patience, thankfulness, humility. Trials can be humbling. We learn humility.

When we're offended, we can also learn the qualities of forgiveness.

When someone offends us, sins against us. And offends us, we can learn to forgive. We can learn more understanding, maybe why a person did what they did, and on and on it goes. We can learn a lot of things. We can also learn compassion.

And perhaps we will learn not to be so easily offended in the future.

Although Christ was perfect and never gave into sin, the scripture says that he learned obedience by the things that he suffered. Now, Christ was perfect. He never sinned. The scripture says he was tempted at every point as we are, yet without sin. So he never sinned, but he did learn obedience by the things that he suffered because he learned to react appropriately every time. He never sinned. He reacted appropriately every time. Christ proved his perfection by enduring his suffering in a godly manner.

He suffered greatly, obviously. He was humiliated in the way he was treated, but he did not lash back.

He took it patiently. Obviously, he didn't curse God in his suffering. He was perfectly obedient throughout his suffering. As he was being crucified, he said, not my will, but your will be done. He did not cling to his own will, but he yielded to his father's will.

So it is certainly very important that we learn to yield to the father's will in our lives and don't seek our own will.

The more we seek our own will, the more frustrated we're going to be.

If we can learn to seek God's will, then we've learned to give up our own will.

It's so much easier then.

So we should strive to follow Christ's perfect example. We should strive to put on his mind Philippians 2 verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So again, the fourth principle that can be learned from this is that all things produce character in us.

All things that God allows, the bad things, maybe it produces even greater character in a sense when these bad things come upon us and we respond appropriately.

Now, it's been a rough month or so in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We've had a little girl that came down with leukemia, three years old.

We had another lady that was diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma with cancer. Someone else that had heart disease and heart attack. So God doesn't obviously keep us exempt from suffering and from trials, from things that happen, but it really is wonderful to see many fine examples of people who accept these trials and they still continue to have faith in God. They continue to trust God. That's so important. But again, we may not respond perfectly to a trial.

In fact, none of us probably respond perfectly to our trials, but seeing people that do respond in godly manners is helpful.

When they don't necessarily, we should not judge ourselves as better people. We haven't gone through what they're going through. We should not judge ourselves as better people.

We haven't had the same trials and problems that they've had.

Again, we should turn to them in love and try to help them through their trial.

Again, that fourth important principle was we should be developing character by the things that we suffer. Then the last principle I wanted to talk about is that all things reveal God's ways. They reveal God's ways to us. When we think about it, God allows these things to happen.

It reveals God's ways to us.

In Psalm 119 verse 71, David said, It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn from your statutes.

It is good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn from your statutes. There's many ways that we can learn from God's statutes. Certainly, when we break those statutes and we bring affliction upon us, we learn certain things that way. David said, It is good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn from our statutes. So obviously, we should look at ourselves and try to determine if it's something that we've done that's brought this trial upon us. If it is, we should certainly seek repentance.

Now, oftentimes, it isn't something directly that we've done. It's just this life that we live.

You know, life takes its toll on us. We've all sinned against God. We've polluted this planet. We've done things that make it difficult to live. It says the whole creation groans for the return of Christ. This whole creation is groaning for better times.

In Isaiah 55, it shows that we must all learn to think like God thinks. Isaiah 55. Again, these things reveal God's ways, these trials that come upon us.

Sometimes, God allows us to suffer financially. He doesn't solve our financial problems right away.

He wants us to learn principles that we should be applying in our lives. In Isaiah 55, verse 8, God says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my way, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, and water the earth, and make it bring forth in bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth, it shall not return to me void. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out with joy and be let out with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

God's ways are not our ways.

God's ways are perfect.

God's thoughts are perfect.

And His will shall be done. God's will, in the final analysis, will be done.

And only those who are willing to do His will will be allowed in His kingdom.

So it's important that we learn to do God's will now, that we learn to listen to His voice, that we learn to obey His voice and follow His voice. In 1 Peter 4, it shows that our goal should be to learn righteousness.

That we should have this as a goal in our lives, is to learn righteousness, to become godly, to become right in the way that we think and in the way that we act. So in 1 Peter 4, verse 1, 1 Peter 4, in verse 1, Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer shall live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men.

So our goal and purpose, again, is to learn righteousness. Christ suffered for us. We should go on learning to walk in righteousness.

Righteousness lasts forever.

And if we go back to chapter 3, verse 18, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the divine long-suffering waited in the days of Noah. So he's talking again about the demons who sinned against him, Satan who sinned against God. Um, Christ has suffered for us, so we should arm ourselves with his mind.

Our goal, again, should be to learn to have the mind of Christ. Christ never sinned. He was perfect. He was completely righteous. Those who love God keep his commandments. Scripture tells us if we love him, we will keep his commandments.

So, brethren, we do learn compassion when we suffer. Isn't that true? Aren't you more compassionate when you go through a trial? Someone who suffers from breast cancer and survives it has an affinity to someone else who goes through the same trial. And they can be a great comfort to someone who is going through the same type of trial.

We are more likely to give a person a drink of water if we've needed a drink of water ourselves. And someone gave it to us. We're more apt to do that, to look out for others' needs when we've also suffered ourselves.

Again, we learn patience by the things that we suffer and endure. We learn to submit to God's will more fully in our lives. So, what I'm saying is all things reveal to us God's ways. God is not a respecter of persons. Trials happen to all of us.

And if it hasn't happened to you, just wait.

Just wait. It's probably going to.

Our faith is strengthened when we endure trials and when we endure suffering.

Again, character is developed in us when we endure trials and suffering. We're better people because of it.

So, let's go back to Romans 8 as we conclude the sermon. And again, let's consider what we're learning by what we're suffering. Romans 8, 28. For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose, for whom he foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called, whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified. God is in the process of giving us his glory. We are to become like him, born into his family. What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us? God is for us. And God is perfect and righteous and in charge. Even though he allows Satan to do certain things, he only allows Satan to do what God allows. I mean, God is in charge. So who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore has also risen, who is even at the right hand of God who makes intercession for us. Christ is our high priest who makes intercession for us. He knows what it's like to be human.

Christ came in the flesh. He suffered in the flesh. He died in the flesh. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Can any of that separate you from the love of Christ? As it is written, for your sake we are killed all day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter, yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And that's the approach that we should all have. That we are conquerors through Christ who loved us. We will be victorious. We are in the process of being victorious, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Christ is our Savior. He is the Messiah.

He gave his life for us, and he's there for us at all times. So do you believe Romans 8 verse 28? Do you believe it?

All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. So the next time you have a trial, remember Romans 8 28. All things work together for good.