My text for this thought will be taken from Romans 8:28 which reads, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
God in his foreknowledge, knows the end from the beginning. In fact, God looks at our world and at mankind with a panoramic view, rather than a focused view as we have, and therefore sees everything at the same time. Our view is focused and is therefore limited. This is the reason man holds God in constant question as to why he does things or allows things to happen to them or be done. It would be good for us to walk by faith and not by sight because faith places our insight into the realm of the panorama with God. When this happens, whether we understand something that happens or not, we can accept it by faith as happening for the good. No matter how bad it seems on the surface, God will take it and use it for our good and for His glory. How is this possible? Because we know that God has never made a mistake.
Let us read 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Paul gives eight exhortations to the church in these four verses. Let us take a brief look at these. Warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men, see that none render evil for evil unto any man but follow that which is good, both yourselves and to all men, rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning you. Now in this last exhortation in verse eighteen, there is a direct connection with our text in Romans. You and I can never understand that all things will work together for us, until we love God enough, to give thanks for everything that happens to us. The giving of thanks is our faith in action, which turns the wheels of God’s purpose for which we were called. That is why Paul said, “This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” This helps us accept and acknowledge that God never makes mistakes.
Let us strengthen and support this concept even further by looking at Ephesians 5:18-20, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul gives us several things to think about in these verses. He first tells us not to get drunk by drinking fermented alcohol. This is what we are not to do, however, he then tells us what we should do. “But be filled with the Spirit.” Everything that the Spirit will do for us by giving us reasoning ability, purpose, and direction in our lives, being inebriated will take from us. Therefore, he mandates this of us. Being filled with the Spirit keeps us watching for His return, it enlightens our understanding, it keeps unnecessary questions from our minds, it makes us love one another, and it causes us to be soul winners.
He then tells us to sing to ourselves and to keep a melody in our hearts. This drives away doubt and fear. There is no room in a melodious heart for jealousy, hatred, envy, strife, or the questioning of authority. Finally, he tells us, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God in Jesus name.” Now this strengthens and fortifies our text! We are not only to thank Him IN all things, but FOR all things. If we can learn to do this, we can literally praise ourselves into victorious living, and then knowing that God never makes a mistake, we can enjoy our salvation to the fullest daily, no matter what comes our way.
Let us now examine Luke 6:20-23, “And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” Let us take note of verse twenty-three especially. All things working together, being thankful in and for all things, along with leaping for joy, all tend to tell us that God wants His people to display a cheerful disposition. Do not let the enemy steal the joy from your life!
Habakkuk 3:17-19 says in a prayer of judgement upon Judah, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon my high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.” Note verse eighteen. What we need to do is to learn how to sit on top of our troubles and rejoice. When the women arrived at the tomb of Jesus, early on the first day of the week, they found angels of God sitting on top of the stone that had been rolled away. There was trouble all right, but they were sitting on top of it. Let us think about the story of the two frogs in the big bowl of cream.
The Poem named ‘Two Frogs’ goes like this.
Two frogs fell in a deep bowl. One was an optimistic soul,
But the other took the gloomy view. “We shall drown”, and he cried adieu.
So, with a last despairing cry, he flung up his legs and said goodbye.
The other frog quoted with a merry grin, “I can’t get out, but I won’t give in!”
I will just swim around till my strength is spent; then will I die the more content.
Bravely he swam till it would seem, his struggles began to churn the cream.
On top of the butter at last he stopped, and out of the bowl he gaily hopped.
What is the moral? ‘Tis easily found -if you cannot hop out, keep swimming around.
We can drown in our own troubles, or we can rejoice our way to victory and sit on top of them.
Israel had a problem with the Philistines and his name was Goliath. They were scared to death, until God sent David their way. 1 Samuel tells the story. Let us look at a few of the verses between verses 3 and 51. “And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you and let him come down to me. And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. And the Philistine drew near morning and evening and presented himself forty days. And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, what shall be done to the man that kills this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him after this manner, saying, so shall it be done to the man that kills him. And David said to Saul, let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So, David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore, David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.” After the young shepherd boy, David, slew Goliath, they saw him standing on top of their troubles, in victory.
Lastly, in my mind’s eye, I can see the disciples of Jesus in the upper room. They could have been discouraged and despondent. After all, their leader, the Messiah, the anointed one had fifty days prior to this, been killed and they all had fled in fear. However, they all escaped death, and He rose again on the third day, and yet again their faith was restored. All was seemingly back to normal and well with the world. They were once again hopeful that everything would now go smoothly, and He would once again take up His position and reign as the supreme leader of their group. All was going well, for about forty days, and then he decided to make His exit. Where was he going? The concept of heaven and hell had been taught in the Old Testament and by Jesus himself, but they could not fully comprehend it. He had given them a brief explanation and reassurance in John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” He gave them instructions to carry out before he left in Acts 1: 3-5 states, “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
Looking back now, while they waited in the upper room, they remembered all the great miracles He had done and the promises He had made to them, and by faith they tried to hold onto those. They spent ten days literally sitting on top of their troubles, waiting, for what they did not understand exactly, until the Holy Ghost was poured out upon them. As the events unfolded on the Day of Pentecost, and they heard Peter explain what was happening to them more fully in Acts 2:16, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel…” everything began to make perfect sense. They found out firsthand that God never makes a mistake. He is always right! No matter what is going on in your life, like the disciples, wait upon the Lord and remember the miracles he has done for you and the promises He has made. He will work all things for your good. Just remember, God is in control. He never makes a mistake; He is always right.