God is good even when we aren't
Daily Scripture
Romans 8:26-32
26 In the same way, the Spirit comes to help our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans. 27 The one who searches hearts knows how the Spirit thinks, because he pleads for the saints, consistent with God’s will. 28 We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 We know this because God knew them in advance, and he decided in advance that they would be conformed to the image of his Son. That way his Son would be the first of many brothers and sisters. 30 Those who God decided in advance would be conformed to his Son, he also called. Those whom he called, he also made righteous. Those whom he made righteous, he also glorified.
31 So what are we going to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He didn’t spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. Won’t he also freely give us all things with him?
Daily Reflection & Prayer
The apostle Paul had a deep faith that even when bad things leave us pained, puzzled and without words, the Holy Spirit pleads our case in prayer and guides us to lives “consistent with God’s will.” God, he trusted, can use every experience we have for a divine purpose. Paul had many hard times (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:22-28). Yet there’s no sign he ever asked, “Why did God make that mob attack me?” We never see him sigh, “Everything happens for a reason. I guess Nero’s cruelty is just God’s will.” Unfortunately, some Christians separate verses 29-30 from the rest of the passage and claim they mean God “pre-assigns” who is saved and who lost. That doesn’t fit Romans’ big gospel message. Scholar Michael Gorman said, “Paul isn’t making a general statement about predestination…. this text affirms that the ultimate purpose of God’s call is for believers to become like Christ.” * Scholar Craig Keener knew Paul was trained as a rabbi: “The majority of Jewish thinkers affirmed both that God was sovereign and that humans had responsibility to choose rightly.” **
- The Holy Spirit cannot force you to live God’s way but does help you choose that. “The ministry of the Spirit is to help believers pray, and even to pray for them…. Jesus also prays for believers (Romans 8:34).” *** And Romans 8:28 did not say “all things” are good but that God is. “There is a big difference between ‘God allowed this bad thing to happen’ and ‘In the midst of this bad thing God is at work for good’…. In life and in death, we belong to a loving God.” **** That’s why Wesley rejected the idea that Paul was saying God determines who will be saved or lost apart from their choices. He said, “If man were not free, he could not be accountable either for his thoughts, word, or actions. If he were not free, he would not be capable either of… virtue or vice, of being either morally good or bad. If he had no more freedom than the sun, the moon, or the stars, he would be no more accountable than them.” ***** Can you think of times when God’s goodness has brought good out of even “bad” events?
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit! Fill my heart with the same spirited hope you gave the apostle Paul. In this world’s darkness, open my eyes to the gleams of light that have always guided God’s children. Amen.
GPS Insights
Lisa Wilt
Lisa Wilt is a member and greeter at Resurrection's Blue Springs campus. She is an inspirational speaker, podcaster, and author of six books. Lisa and her husband have 2 grown children and one grandson, Elijah David. The title that most defines Lisa is CHILD OF GOD. As her family will tell you, Lisa’s singing is dreadful, but her banana bread is delightful.
Have I got an embarrassing back-to-school story for you. It starts out bad—really bad—but ends with a glimpse of Romans 8:28 in action.
It was my first day of high school, and I was sweaty, nervous, and hopelessly lost in a maze of freshman hormones. I wore a white skirt (ladies may already know where this is going), and by first period, my chair felt damp. I blamed the heat and lack of air conditioning. But the truth was more vivid… and very visible. I had started my period for the first time… on the first day of school… in a white skirt. Cue the horror.
As a male, maybe you’ve experienced humiliation when you missed the game-winning shot… or got shot down after finally working up the courage to ask someone to prom. At some point, we’ve all choked in front of peers. Sent the wrong text. Said the wrong thing. Or just felt painfully out of place.
But Romans 8 reminds us that God meets us in our weakness: “In the same way, the Spirit comes to help our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans.” — Romans 8:26, CEB
Even when we don’t know what to pray, God is already interceding. And He doesn’t just patch things up—He weaves purpose through the pain: “We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” — Romans 8:28, CEB
I still squirm thinking about my first day as a freshman. But woven into the embarrassment was a thread of grace. Her name was Susie Stuckey. She lived catty-corner from me and was more than a neighbor—she was my angel in sneakers. When she saw me bending into my locker, she stepped behind me like a human shield. Then she walked me to the bus with the quiet courage I so desperately needed. That day, I was a puddle of tears. She was a pillar of strength.
I wanted to disappear and sobbed to my mom that I was never going back. Already painfully shy and unsure of where I fit in, this felt like the worst possible beginning. While Susie didn’t fix my problem, she stood beside (and behind) me in it. My mom listened and understood me through alligator tears. And that’s exactly what God does. He doesn’t erase the awkward or the ache—but He never wastes it. He redeems it.
So as school starts and seasons shift, change brings both good and bad. But God brings good out of bad. And sometimes the most powerful way to love someone isn’t by solving their problem—it’s by listening and standing with them in it.
Just like Susie. Just like my mom. Just like Jesus.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Michael J. Gorman, study note on Romans 8:29 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 289NT.
** Craig Keener, study note on Romans 8:29 in NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, eBook (p. 10379). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
*** Michael J. Gorman, study note on Romans 8:26-27 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 289NT.
**** Cynthia Campbell, article “Purpose” in The CEB Women’s Bible. Nashville: Common English Bible, 2016, p. 1426.
***** John Wesley, sermon 58 “On Predestination” at https://holyjoys.org/wesley-sermon-predestination/.
