All These Things Are For You

"36And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me." (Genesis 42: 36)

Jaconb, the Covenant child of Abraham and Isaac, with twelve sons, all of whom would give forth into a great nation: this same Jacob threw up his hands in abject despair: "All these things are against me!"

He had lost his beloved son, Joseph, but in reality, Joseph was not only still alive, but was preparing a great land for Jacob and his family to rest in and to be safe from the famine.

Joseph would reveal himself and declare God's full intentions:

"And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." (Genesis 45: 7)

Many of us in our trials will look at the circumstances around us. Right away, we will conclude: "Everything is working out against me!"

What does the Bible say, however?

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8: 28)

Now, some people may read law and works into this, but we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2: 8-9), and we must see Jesus not ourselves.

"We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4: 19)

Paul affirms this earlier in his Epistle to the Romans:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5: 8)

Notice that God commends (present tense!) His love for us! He still shows us His love, as the blood of His Son sacrificing for us still cleanses (1 John 1: 7) and speaks better things for us (Hebrews 12: 24).

So, we love God because we see how much He loves us.

We also know that we are called to according to His purpose:

"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" (Ephesians 1: 4)

and

"29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." (Romans 8: 28-30)

So, we know that because He loves us, we in turn love Him, and we have been called into Himself, into His life.

We also know that when He comes again, we will reign with Him, as we reign in Life even today because of Him (Romans 5: 17)

Fear not, no matter what is happening to you. Now that all things are for you, because He is for you (Romans 8: 31).