Romans 8:28 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
THEME OF THE DAY: NO TURNING BACK. Have you ever felt like a complete failure in the Christian life? Be honest. Don’t cut yourself slack. Have you ever grown tired of failing the Lord, falling into sin again and felt like saying, “Lord, I can’t get this following You thing right. You should just give up on me.” Or perhaps you have been tempted to say, “I am done. This is too hard. I cannot live the Christian life.”
No honest Christian would be able to deny the truths behind my statements. Each of us has been so demoralized at times when we see the love and glory of the Lord and how far short we fall in loving Him back. We have been tempted to quit. The Apostle Peter knew this reality. Remember when he boasted to the Lord, “Not me. I will never deny You or forsake You” (Matthew 26:33-36)? Then a few hours later, he disgraced himself and fell flat on his face by doing the exact thing he said would never happen (Luke 22:54-62). The Apostle John records what Peter attempted to do in the midst of such failure – “After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus” (John 21:1-4). Do we see it? Peter says, “I am going fishing.” Basically, we could summarize Peter’s statement like this, “Listen, guys, I thought I could follow Jesus. I even boasted of doing so in front of a lot of people and I failed miserably. I can’t do it, but I know one thing I can do well. I can fish. I made my living fishing.” Well, Peter, sorry, but no, you cannot go back. When Christ calls a person to Himself and claims his or her life, there is no turning back. And notice what John says of Peter’s attempt to resume his old occupation – “but that night caught nothing.” Peter and the boys simply could not go back to their former lives despite their failings of the Lord. Neither can we. No turning back and today’s scripture is a great source of encouragement to help live the “no turning back” life.
We read today’s scripture with a tendency to interpret the phrase “all things work together for good” in light of sufferings, losses, hard trials, and other things that are happening to us. That is a restricted and incomplete interpretation. It doesn’t say that. It says “all things” and that simply means, “all things.” One of my professors in school said, “All means all and that is all, all means.” So, how does that apply? All does mean times of suffering but it must also mean our sinning and failings in the Christian life. God will use our sins and failures for our good. The Puritan pastor Thomas Brooks wrote, “Yes, even all the falls and all the sins of the saints shall work for their good. Oh, the care, the fear, the watchfulness, the tenderness, the zeal which God raises in the souls of His saints by their very falls! Oh the hatred, the indignation, and the detestation which God raises in the hearts of His children against sin by their very falling into sin!” That truth doesn’t produce lazy and presumptuous Christian living, but rejoicing, thankful, and diligent Christian living.
So when we fail the Lord and we will, don’t despair or be tempted to quit. Learn from the failure and sin. Let it do its work of teaching us that in the hands of our loving Lord, “all things work together for good” and we will sin and fail less.
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You that You promise of all things working for my good includes my sinning and failing.”
QUOTE: “All things for good means just that – all things. Rejoice in this truth and learn to sin and fail less.”