God is good. Right?
Well that is what we always say. God is good. God works everything together for our good.
That is what we are always told at least. And that last part was almost scripture. But do we believe it?
We say and hear it all the time, so it has to be true, right? But did the writer believe it? Or what exactly did the writer mean by good?
The verse that people more than likely take this from Romans 8:28, and it says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose."
The writer was Paul.
What do we know about Paul?
He persecuted to their death the followers of this new religious sect called, "The Way."
He was an extremely devout Jew.
He had a radical conversion into this religious sect.
Through a process he became a very important player in this sect.
He wrote many books in the New Testament.
He faced much persecution and suffering for his part in this thing.
2 Corinthians 11:24-25 give a hint of what he went through.
"Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea."
This life sounds like a dream, right?
Who wouldn't call this good?
Well it does not fit the definition I normally use for the word.
With everything that Paul did for the Kingdom, why did he still have to suffer?
Was he not doing what God had called him to do according to his purpose?
If he was, what exactly was good about it?
Maybe, our definition of good and how it is used is slightly different than the definition God uses.
Or maybe we just don't understand and won't understand.
The platform that Paul had gave him a voice to reach many for the kingdom.
That same platform is also why he faced all the persecution.
If the Jewish leaders at the time didn't view Paul as a threat, they would have let him go.
But they knew what he was doing and how powerful he was. So they tried to stop and stop him.
They didn't want the potentially dangerous word to get out. The message Paul carried made everything they believed obsolete. What did Paul do when he faced the troubles? He continued on. He wasn't going to stop proclaiming the message he knew he was supposed to proclaim.
Did Paul get caught up in what was going to happen to him? He knew the consequences.
Did he think he deserved some comfortable life just because he was gracious enough to follow the Lord? He knew what he was doing. He knew what was going to happen to him. He then called it good. I think what we can learn from Paul in this situation is something very valuable.
He looked at the big picture and realized where he fit into it.
He knew that if his life was glorifying the Lord by the message he preached and the life he lived, then all the side things did not really matter.
Maybe it is that simple. Maybe that is what we need to get from Paul's life.
Maybe we just need to see that all the small side things do not matter. We have to glorify God with everything that we have. We have to start realizing the importance of living for the Kingdom.
If something good happens for the Kingdom and if we are followers of this belief, how then can we complain about it?
Paul knew his calling. He didn't get caught up in the distractions that were coming his way. He didn't get caught up in this idea of a comfortable Christian life. He glorified God with everything he had and the world was changed drastically because of it. Are we ready to do the same thing? Or are the distractions of life going to stop us?
Well that is what we always say. God is good. God works everything together for our good.
That is what we are always told at least. And that last part was almost scripture. But do we believe it?
We say and hear it all the time, so it has to be true, right? But did the writer believe it? Or what exactly did the writer mean by good?
The verse that people more than likely take this from Romans 8:28, and it says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose."
The writer was Paul.
What do we know about Paul?
He persecuted to their death the followers of this new religious sect called, "The Way."
He was an extremely devout Jew.
He had a radical conversion into this religious sect.
Through a process he became a very important player in this sect.
He wrote many books in the New Testament.
He faced much persecution and suffering for his part in this thing.
2 Corinthians 11:24-25 give a hint of what he went through.
"Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea."
This life sounds like a dream, right?
Who wouldn't call this good?
Well it does not fit the definition I normally use for the word.
With everything that Paul did for the Kingdom, why did he still have to suffer?
Was he not doing what God had called him to do according to his purpose?
If he was, what exactly was good about it?
Maybe, our definition of good and how it is used is slightly different than the definition God uses.
Or maybe we just don't understand and won't understand.
The platform that Paul had gave him a voice to reach many for the kingdom.
That same platform is also why he faced all the persecution.
If the Jewish leaders at the time didn't view Paul as a threat, they would have let him go.
But they knew what he was doing and how powerful he was. So they tried to stop and stop him.
They didn't want the potentially dangerous word to get out. The message Paul carried made everything they believed obsolete. What did Paul do when he faced the troubles? He continued on. He wasn't going to stop proclaiming the message he knew he was supposed to proclaim.
Did Paul get caught up in what was going to happen to him? He knew the consequences.
Did he think he deserved some comfortable life just because he was gracious enough to follow the Lord? He knew what he was doing. He knew what was going to happen to him. He then called it good. I think what we can learn from Paul in this situation is something very valuable.
He looked at the big picture and realized where he fit into it.
He knew that if his life was glorifying the Lord by the message he preached and the life he lived, then all the side things did not really matter.
Maybe it is that simple. Maybe that is what we need to get from Paul's life.
Maybe we just need to see that all the small side things do not matter. We have to glorify God with everything that we have. We have to start realizing the importance of living for the Kingdom.
If something good happens for the Kingdom and if we are followers of this belief, how then can we complain about it?
Paul knew his calling. He didn't get caught up in the distractions that were coming his way. He didn't get caught up in this idea of a comfortable Christian life. He glorified God with everything he had and the world was changed drastically because of it. Are we ready to do the same thing? Or are the distractions of life going to stop us?
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