Dr. Dan Hayden •
Does your life have purpose? In any organizational plan it is important to set forth your goals and purposes. Where are you going? And how do you propose to get there? Now, God is very organized. He knows exactly where He is going and He knows precisely how He intends to get there. This is important to understand when we read the following verse.
Romans 8:28 says, “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.”
Now, did you notice there are two qualifying phrases in the verse? First, it is for those who love God. Second, it is for those who are called according to His purpose. You see, it is God’s purpose for our lives, not our purpose that determines the good result. God has a plan. There is purpose in what He allows and causes. He knows exactly what He is doing and where He is going. So, the point of this verse is: if you are willing to do His will so that you fit into His plan and purpose, then you can have the confidence that all things will work together for good.
The word “purpose” here is the Greek compound word prothesis, which means to establish a plan or purpose ahead of time. And this is exactly what God does.
Do you remember the story of Joseph in the Old Testament? A lot of bad things happened to him. He was rejected by his brothers, sold into slavery, victimized by his employer’s wife, imprisoned as an accused rapist, and forgotten about by his fellow inmates. But God had a plan. There was a bigger picture unfolding, and in the end Joseph was highly exalted and greatly used by God. So, all things do “work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Ask God how you can fit into His plans, rather than asking Him to fit into your plans.