Mensa Otabil - Affirm Your Conviction
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Welcome to day number 13 of our Fresh Start. We’re making a lot of progress, and we’re almost getting to the end of this time of waiting on the Lord and trusting Him for guidance in the New Year. Romans chapter 8, verse 28: «And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.» This is a statement of conviction, a statement of faith. We know-"we know» means we are convinced about it, we are sure of it. There are things in our Christian life that we have to be sure of, and we have to be sure of them whether things are good for us or things are not going well for us. We have to have this conviction; we must know.
And what must we know? That all things-all things-and I like the statement " all things.» All things means all things. It doesn’t mean only good things, nor does it mean only bad things. It means all things: the good, the bad, the ugly. Sometimes things come our way that we look at, and we wonder, «Can anything good come out of this? This is a bad deal for me,» but it’s part of all things. God puts everything together, and He calls them all things. We have to be sure that every part of our life, every piece of our life as Christians, is in God’s hands. All things are in His hands.
Then He says, «All things work together for good.» They work together; in other words, all things do not just become good, but all things work together. They produce an effect, and they intermingle with each other. When they do, they produce good for us. God’s assurance to us is that not everything this year is going to be good. Some things are going to be painful; some things are going to be difficult; some things are going to be disappointing; some things are going to be exciting. You’re going to have a mixed bag.
But our assurance as Christians is that in the midst of this mixed bag of activities, events, or feelings that we’re going through, God is using all of them to work out His purposes. The Christian life is not just a life of wishing that every day will be sweet. It’s a life of wishing that God’s purposes will be done, that God’s will will be done in our lives, that God will take everything that goes on in our lives and mold them into something great. God is like a master weaver who is weaving a piece of cloth. He takes threads of different colors and weaves them all together into a beautiful pattern, and in the end, something emerges, and we say, «Wow, that’s beautiful!»
All things- all the threads working together. That’s how God is going to use you and the events of your life-their life threads in His hand-and He’s weaving out His purposes in our lives. Then He says, «All things work together.» He didn’t say for everybody; He didn’t say everything would be fine for everybody. He says, «For those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.» In other words, there is an attitude of our heart that makes all things work together for our good. If we are walking in disobedience, if we are turning against God, and we are just minding our own ways, and there is no repentance, and we are walking in sin, then all things are not going to work together for our good. It says, «All things work together for the good of those who love God.»
So the heart has to be towards God; there has to be a desire for God; there has to be an inclination towards God. You have to say, «Lord, You are the center of my life.» Once He becomes the center of your life, then He makes all things work together for our good. The good that comes out of it is not how good we probably see it, but the good according to God’s purposes for our lives. Because there are things we wish and want that are not good for us, and God is not going to give them to us. He gives us the things that are good according to His purpose for our lives.
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, You have a purpose for me; let all things bring me into Your purposes for my life. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.