“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
If I were to title this savory slice from the petite kumquat of my wisdom, I would call it “Why do Romans 8:28 things happen to Romans 1-6 people?”. At times I feel fortunate that my posts providentially decorate the floor of gerbil cages throughout Cedar County as I express in written form where I am spiritually without many judgmental eyes gracing its words. I hope in the process this somewhat self-indulgent venting God is glorified and His name lifted up for all to see.
Have you ever sat back and thought through the road you have traveled to arrive where you are today (Tom Tom GPS aside...)? How, spiritually, have you arrived there? What building blocks have undergirded /encompassed the tower, house, shack, or cardboard box making up the dwelling of your faith? This is a question I have delved into within myself for the last few weeks. First some background. (Note: some of this will be a review, but it will be on the test!)
The winding road of my faith began in eternity past with God. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross nearly 2000 years ago as a substitute sin-debt payer for all who would repent and believe the Gospel. Amazingly, and for a reason I could NEVER understand, I was/am included here. The majority of the first 25+ years of my life I had spent racking up Romans chapters’ 1-6 experiences. (If you haven’t read those chapters, pause and do so now. It will only take an hour at most.) In summary, I lived for myself as a slave to sin and a friend of the world. Then God saved me. God saved ME. The path from point A to B was orchestrated by God. Allow me to show you.
I first made a profession of faith (loosely “asked Jesus into my heart”) in 5th grade at a church booth at the fair. My view of sin changed, but only in a sense. I hated looking like a hypocrite, but still liked sin. There was no evident fruit in my life in keeping with repentance (Luke 3), as I hadn’t actually repented of my sin. Time kept on ticking. I was married in 1990 (to the most wonderful person on Earth, I must add). Previously, we both sinfully fell away from the church of our youth. We were engaged during those years of attendance in high school. I spent a summer after I graduated high school doing archaeology in Israel, while my then-fiancé was graduating. Unfortunately we broke up during that summer. When I returned, through God’s grace and her good choice (or a gap in her good taste), we resumed our relationship and got re-engaged. Church gossip ensued as surely Susan must be pregnant since we were eager to get married?!? This was not the case, but the rumors gave us an excuse to not go to church for years. During this time some building blocks of faith even in my direct disobedience were secretly being laid in an unusual way. Self-righteousness in the “I can do church without going to a church building” took over. God would later bring this to light for me.
While the spiritual battle for my soul was being waged unbeknownst to me during these years, we lived like gypsies. We lived in a dozen different places during those years. I have never been without a job and went to college most of those years, but we moved a lot. We finally decided to settle down, if you will, and buy a house. We put earnest money on a nice, older home in Ozark, Mo. and began the process of moving there. Ten days before we were scheduled to close on the loan, interest rates, not locked in to a specified rate, dramatically went up. Our payment, increased by the higher rate, required more income to validate our ability to pay (yes, kids, we used to have to prove we could pay for our mortgage). Our possessions in storage and plans to move dashed, I decided to get a better job. God providentially placed me in Branson. I didn’t quickly find a higher paying job, but I was invited to church in Branson. God used that church to draw me to “rededicating my life” there the next year. As I look at the fruit of my life and recall the events leading up to that day, I see that I first repented and believed Christ in this process. I was baptized there and gave my testimony from the water with my family in the audience.
My salvation story is one of the many reasons I will cling to Romans 8:28. Bad things happen, people sin against us, and things sometimes seem dark, but God uses every bit of it. I am currently living through a very hard time right now financially like many of you are. During times like these, believers have 2 options: 1. We can turn to TBN and find our favorite rich prosperity pastor and send a seed. This will make him richer and only change your circumstance by reducing your checking balance. 2. We can cling to Romans 8:28. We can look at our lives and see where He has brought us from. He owed us nothing. We deserved judgment (Romans 6), yet He saved us! We can thank Him for the growth in faith through hard times, and come to appreciate and love Him more in the process. Remember, believer, that He is in charge and will work things out how He sees fit, and it will be good for you in the process. What else can we possibly ask for than that? Thank Him and trust Him today. He is worthy!
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