In All Things God Works For The Good Of Those Who Love Him...

A few thoughts on the start of my year and how Romans 8:28 is speaking to me

Good morning,

January has been a rough month for me and my family. We started out well with a week of birthday celebrations, but the last three weeks have been filled with sickness. What started out as a sore throat turned into weeks of fatigue, coughing, and seclusion.

This last week, things started to be on the upswing; though my kids are still feeling pretty sick, I am finally starting to feel better. Yesterday, my first post was published sometime over on Medium.

All that to say, I am getting back into the swing of things. I also had a revelation right before getting sick that maybe I needed to shift my focus more for this year. Right before getting sick, I realized that God was calling me to do three things:

1. Grow this space, Coffee with Jesus.

2. Publish more books on Amazon KDP.

3. Share my experience with Self-Publishing (but not as a guru).

This means slowing down what I work on for some other places. I'm not publishing as much for some other topics that I wrote a lot about last year. And connecting more with this space because it’s

1. Where I want to be anyway.

2. Where God wants me to be.

3. Where there is a place to connect with God’s Kingdom.

But you can read more about that in this post on Medium. Now that I have shared a few things here, I also had something that came to mind the other day while recovering from my cold that I wanted to share with you.

A Few Thoughts on Romans 8:28

Here’s what Romans 8:28 says:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Now, this verse gets used for all kinds of things. It has become a mantra for Christians who are trying to persevere through many circumstances or who are trying to build something great and fabulous.

I have heard it left on the voicemail messages, quoted at the bottom of the email signatures, and even chanted while working in the gym. However, this section of scripture is a little more focused than many people use it for.

All things are not good.

First, we must understand that not all things are good. I shared something on X (formerly Twitter) a while back. I shared that I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason because not everything that happens is good.

People do things that aren’t good. Things happen that aren’t good. God doesn’t make them happen. They happen. And since not good things happen, not all things are good.

So, just because God works things out for good doesn’t mean that something wrong is good. We must understand this first. Otherwise, we have the opportunity to hurt ourselves and others when people face terrible things in life.

This isn’t a blanket statement.

This might be straightforward to most Christians when they believe this verse, but when they share it with a friend who isn’t a Christian and is facing troubles, they act like it’s a universal promise.

Unfortunately, it’s not a universal promise. It’s a promise to the people of God. Those who love God and walk in the purposes God has for them.

So, we know that not all things are good. We also know that this isn’t a verse for everyone. But there is one more thing that I was thinking about as I read this verse and contemplated it while being sick.

What is ‘Good,’ and how do we know it?

Good is an interesting idea. We have what we think is good. And then, ultimately, we have what is good in the eyes of God. This is where things can get complicated and a little bit meta.

You see. We think we know what is good. Generally speaking, it’s anything that fits into what we want or think we need. It’s good for me to get better right now. It’s good for me to get that promotion at work. It’s good for you to get a raise.

But what is good in God’s eyes might be different. It might be good to be sick a little longer so my immune system is stronger. It might be good to stay in my current job because there’s less stress. It might be good that you don’t get a raise because you aren’t managing your money well.

As you can see, there might be a better good out there.

When we face trouble, how should we think of this verse?

Looking back, I think about being sick for three weeks and know that God is good. He doesn’t want sickness. He doesn’t want us to be worried about being sick or worse. And if this is true, then sickness is bad and health is good.

So, I believe God wants health.

I know that God wants good for his people (Jeremiah 29:11). If this is the case, we know we can pray for health and believe God will get better. There is nothing wrong with asking for health in times of sickness.

So, God wants us to ask for health and goodness.

Ultimately, what is the best good? This is a more complicated question. But, we can ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us and advocate for us in what to pray for when it comes to being sick. Is it health? Is it comfort? Is it something else?

Ask Holy Spirit what to ask God for.

Lastly, ask Jesus to meet you in your place of need. Sit quietly and wait for him. He will come. He is most likely there with you already. Pour your heart out to him. Ask him to move in your life or in the life of the person you are praying for. And listen to what he has to say.

I believe God will work for your good. Go to him and ask for that good in your life.

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I invite you to share this post with a friend who might need to know God wants good for them. Or perhaps there isn’t anyone who comes to mind; share it with your socials and see who it might touch.

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J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who writes about faith and writing books. He has self-published three bible study devotionals on Amazon. Check them out below:

• The Gospel of John

• The Gospel of Matthew

• The Book of Proverbs

P.S. There may be sales or affiliate links in this post. So, I might get a little kick back if you purchase anything. Thank you in advance!