ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR YOUR GOOD! One of the most encouraging and comforting

things that a Christian needs to realise and constantly remember--particularly when he's going through times of trouble, trials and tribulations--is that our Heavenly Father LOVES us, and is in absolute and total control of our lives!--And that NOTHING can happen to us without HIS will or HIS permission! So even if WE don't always understand exactly why we're going through such trials, GOD knows what He's doing! He knows all the purposes and reasons behind every test, trial, affliction etc.

He promises us in His Word, ROM.8:28 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.

PSA.34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivered him out of them all.

A-L-L, ALL! He will never let anything happen

to you, His child, except that which is for your GOOD! Of course, you may be tempted to feel like, "Goodness gracious!--A LOT of things have happened that don't look very good to me!"

Well, I dare say that you finally found out sooner or later that somehow or another they WERE good for you.--Or you will YET!

The following true story beautifully illustrates this principle:

One chilly winter morning, a fishing fleet launched out from a small harbour on the east coast of Newfoundland. In the afternoon there arose a great storm. When night settled, not a single vessel of all the fleet had found its way back into port. All night long, wives, mothers, children and sweethearts paced up & down the windswept beach, wringing their hands and calling on God to save their lost loved ones. To add to the horror of the situation, one of their cottages caught fire. Since the men were away, it was impossible to put out the blaze and save it.

When morning broke, to the joy of all, the entire fleet had returned safely to harbour in the bay. But there was one face which was a picture of despair--the wife of the man whose home had been destroyed in the fire. Meeting her husband as he landed, she cried, "Oh, Honey, we are RUINED! Our home and everything in it was destroyed by fire!" But the man exclaimed to her surprise, "THANK GOD for that fire! It was the light of our burning cottage that safely guided the whole fleet into port!"

Jesus has told us, MAT.28:20 …and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

He also promises, HEB.13:5 … for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Even through the DARKEST and most trying times, the Lord is always "a Friend that sticks closer than a brother!"--Proverbs 18:24. PSA.23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

No matter WHAT hard turns your road may take, Jesus is WITH you, He CARES and He will somehow work even the seemingly darkest and most discouraging circumstances and conditions together for your good.--He's PROMISED to!

I thank God for that fire!

Sometimes we stand at life's crossroad, And view what we think is the END, But GOD has a much BIGGER vision And He tells us it's only a BEND. --For the road goes on and is smoother, And the pause in the song is a rest,

And the part that's unsung and unfinished Is the sweetest and richest and best! So rest and relax and grow stronger, Let go and let God share your load, Your work is not finished or ended, You've just come to a BEND in the road!

We know that the Lord loves us and that He is always willing to do His best to help us if we are doing our

best to follow Him. Therefore, when things aren't going quite right, we know it's not God's fault, but that He is probably trying to teach us something; or perhaps we are missing the mark somehow, failing in some area or mistaken in some way about the way we're doing things. So the first thing to do when things begin going wrong is to look to the Lord and PRAY, ask Him what we could be doing wrong, or how we could do things BETTER, or if we're making some kind of mistake or in some way actually displeasing Him.

God's Word tells us that "the curse undeserved shall not come" (Proverbs 26:2), which means that troubles, accidents, problems etc. don't just "happen" to Christians! If seemingly bad things befall us, God allows them for a PURPOSE, a REASON, although it may not always be revealed or understood by us immediately!

Things don't just happen to a child of God, They're part of a wonderful PLAN; The troubles, reverses, the sorrows, the rod Are strokes of the Great Sculptor's hand! Things don't just happen to Children of God, The blueprint was made by HIS hand;

He designed all the details to conform to His Son So all things that happen are PLANNED. No matter what happens to those called “His Own” Events that are awful or grand; Every trial of your life He sends from His throne; Things don't just happen, they're PLANNED!

The Lord often allows seemingly "bad" things to happen to us to draw us CLOSER to Him, to keep us HUMBLE and more DEPENDENT on HIM, such as what the Bible calls "CHASTENINGS", from the Lord. Like any good father, it hurts Him to see His children break the rules and go astray, because He loves us, and He knows that our waywardness and wrong-doings hurt US. So He tries in love to correct us. If a sheep insists on wandering away from the Shepherd and away from the fold, away from the right path, a loving reminder from the shepherd's rod is often what it takes to cause that sheep to return to where it belongs. Of course, most of us don't usually feel that a correction is very GOOD news, but the Lord says,

HEB.12:6-11 For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives. If ye endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father does not chasten? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

And though they are hard for us to take sometimes, they are a token of His LOVE, His "intolerable compliment", and are a necessary part of our training that definitely works together for our good!

Sometimes God has to let things happen to us just to get our ATTENTION!--Particularly if we are too distracted and thinking about too many other things, "the cares, the riches and the pleasures of this life."--Luke 8:14. When we're too concerned or worried about this, that and the other, and our minds are off of the Lord, He often allows things to happen to sort of JOLT and wake us up to the real ETERNAL values: HIM and His WORD and His WORK! The great Psalmist, King David, realised this when HE was chastened and afflicted, and he wrote,

PSA.119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.

PSA.119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes. Of course, sometimes the Lord allows things to happen that disappoint or look bad to us, not as a

chastisement, but because He mercifully wants to SPARE us from serious danger or trouble that we would get ourselves into were things to go OUR way. Often he does not answer our prayers the way we want Him to because He sees AHEAD, and knows that our desires would hurt and harm us were we to get them. The Lord's answers to our prayers are infinitely perfect, and they will show that often when we were asking for a stone that looked to us like bread, He was giving us bread that to our short-sightedness looked like a stone! (See Matthew 7:7-11.) The following story illustrates this perfectly:

One stormy winter night in 1910, a group of travelling Christian musicians arrived at the city of Riga, on the Baltic Sea, to fulfil a concert engagement. The weather was so bad, however, and the concert hall so far out of town, that the conductor of the orchestra tried to persuade the manager of the music hall to cancel the concert. He felt that no one would venture out on such a terribly stormy and wild night. The manager refused to cancel, but he agreed that if no one turned up, the orchestra could leave early in order to catch the night boat for Helsinki, Finland.

When the musicians arrived at the concert hall, they found only ONE person sitting in the audience, a stout old gentleman who seemed to smile at

everyone. Because of this old music-lover, the musicians were forced to play the entire concert. They were, therefore, unable to leave early and catch the boat.

After the concert was over, the old man continued to keep his seat. Thinking he was asleep, an usher nudged his shoulder. Only then was it discovered that the old man was not alive. The musicians had played an entire concert for a DEAD man! But in doing this, they also had saved their lives. For the boat they would have taken to Helsinki went down that stormy night, and all crew members were drowned. So although His

Our boat sank in the storm!

children in that orchestra had earnestly hoped to avoid playing in that concert so they could catch the boat, the Lord knew better than they did, and used these seemingly disappointing circumstances to spare them from disaster!

Another reason that the Lord sometimes allows seemingly bad things to happen to us is simply to HUMBLE us and BREAK us so He can REMAKE us into what HE wants us to be. Many times the Bible likens the Lord unto a POTTER, and us unto the CLAY in His hands.

ISA.45:9 "Woe to him who strives with his Maker… Shall the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' Or shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands'?

ISA.64:8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.

Clay which He desires to form into a vessel that is "fit for the Master's use!"--2Timothy 2:21.

But often when a potter is working with clay, when he is forming a vessel and discovers an imperfection or a mistake, a lump or a mar, he will take that same clay and CRUSH it, then add water to soften it again so he can knead it, rework it and remake it. He mashes it, crushes it and squeezes it until it is nice soft “moldable” clay again.--Then he can remake it into a NEW and a BETTER vessel since the first one didn't turn out quite right.

Jeremiah 18:4,6 And the vessel that the potter made of clay was MARRED in the hand of the potter: So he made it again into ANOTHER vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it.—“O My people, can I not do with YOU as the POTTER does with his clay? Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are YOU in MY hand!”.

At first, it probably doesn't seem like a very good thing to that vessel, when its maker suddenly starts mashing and smashing and crushing and remaking it, but in the long run it becomes a BETTER vessel for it.--It "works together for its good"!

The Lord often allows some things to happen to us to TEST us and TRY us, to PURGE us and to make us

BETTER vessels, so we will be more useful for His service, more humble and more loving. He puts us through FIERY trials to burn out the DROSS, and through the STORMS of testing to blow away the CHAFF, and through DEEP WATERS so we can learn to SWIM! The Lord uses such tests to give us great victories, even out of seeming defeats, because the trials cause us to draw closer to Him and to cry out to Him and really seek Him with ALL of our hearts.--Otherwise we have a tendency to sort of rock along with business as usual.

So the storms and the fires and the trials and tribulations of this life are all GOOD for us because they test our strength and determination!--To see if we'll give up and lose faith, or if we'll keep on "FIGHTING the fight of faith" and trusting the Lord in spite of it all!--1Timothy 6:12. He often allows us to have our faith and our patience tested to see how much we will really "STIR ourselves up" to CALL upon HIM for HIS help and HIS strength.--Isaiah 64:7.

Of course, when the Lord allows us to go through a big trial or trouble, it's a real TEST, and sad to say, it often ends in COMPLAINING and MURMURING, and people sometimes hold it against God! Instead of really LEARNING the LESSONS that He wants to teach them from their troubles or sicknesses or whatever He has allowed, they murmur and ask, "God, WHY did You do this to ME?", instead of, "Lord, why did I DESERVE this?--Why did I NEED it?" They're almost OFFENDED at God for letting things happen to them, instead of realising that God is trying to SHOW them something.

Trials and tests will either make you HARDENED and BITTER, or HUMBLED and BETTER!--One or the other! So when faced with tests, trials and tribulations, watch out that you don't harden your heart, that you don't get bitter and resentful against the Lord. His Word says,

Hebrews 12:15 "Look diligently, lest any man fail the grace of God, lest any ROOT OF BITTERNESS spring up and TROUBLE you, and through it, MANY be DEFILED!"

HARDENING your heart is NOT the solution! He says, "Harden NOT your hearts!"--Hebrews 3:15. But rather, "Cast your burdens upon the LORD, and HE shall sustain you! SEEK the LORD while He may be found, CALL upon HIM while He is near! For the Lord is CLOSE to

I can’t understand

why my work seems so difficult!

them that are of a BROKEN heart, and SAVES such as be of a BROKEN and HUMBLE spirit!"--Psalm 55:22; 34:18; Isaiah 55:6.

Even though people have gone through things that weren't right, things that shouldn't have happened in the first place and weren't good, the Lord has the amazing ability to take things that are bad and shouldn't have even happened and turn them around and actually make something so good out of them that we can say, "Thank You, Jesus, that they did happen, because it taught me‚ trained me, strengthened me, and gave me greater understanding and more compassion on others." That's the miracle of Romans 8:28! It is a miracle‚ a very big miracle. But it transforms you when you accept things that come into your life and you say, "Lord‚ I know that You allowed these things in my life. You care about me so much that You wouldn't allow anything in my life that wouldn't be good for me in some way in the end, and that You can help me turn into something good for my growth and my blessing."

It boils down to your attitude and your faith. It's how you take things and what you make of them. Everybody in the world is going to have tough things happen to them, and even bad things, or things other people shouldn't have done to them, but it's an individual choice whether you allow those difficulties to make you better or bitter. The Lord can use those things in your life, if you let Him! And many of you have, because you're still fighting and living for Jesus!

Problems happen simply because you're alive. That's what happens in life; there are problems. That's what happens to everyone, whether you're a child or an adult, a male or a female, a Christian or an atheist; there are battles in life. In everyone's life there are going to be battles, trials, and difficult things, or else we wouldn't build any strength of character. The Lord makes sure that in everybody's life there are rough patches; you can't expect to go through life without having difficulties and battles and trials.

The brass-tacks truth is that it's not the circumstances that determine your state; it's your attitude toward them. You become bitter and resentful when you leave the Lord and the Word out of your life, when you fail

to see the Romans 8:28 in a situation. Many of you have gone through super difficult trials and battles, and you've risen above, and the Lord has made you better instead of bitter. That's the difference.

WHATEVER God does, He always does it in LOVE.--And as we said earlier, He will never allow ANYTHING to happen to you that is not for your GOOD, for truly, "ALL things do work together for good to them that love God!"--Romans 8:28. So when things look DARKEST, DON'T look DOWN.--Look UP! Don't murmur and complain! But start PRAISING the Lord, and you can often praise your way right out of the pit of doubt, defeat and discouragement into which the enemy of your soul is trying to cast you! The Lord LOVES praise and thanksgiving. His Word says that He DWELLS in the PRAISES of His people!--Psalm 22:3.

Doubt, fear, discouragement and murmuring KILL! But faith, trust, courage and praising the Lord brings LIFE! So let's try to TAKE our trials and our temptations graciously, and even gratefully! The Lord promises that He will NEVER give you more than you are able to BEAR, and that He will always make a way of ESCAPE.--Somehow He will always make it easier for you or at least help you to bear it if you call on Him for help. He says,

1Corinthians 10:13 "There has no temptation come upon you except what is COMMON to man. But GOD is FAITHFUL, Who will NOT allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to ESCAPE, that you may be able to BEAR it!"

Because "many are the afflictions of the righteous" (Psa.34:19), it's certainly comforting to know that "all these things work together for good to them that love the Lord, to them who are the called according to His purpose!"--Romans 8:28. In fact, in order to come through our many trials, difficulties, battles & temptations victoriously, it is imperative that we make this promise in Romans 8:28 a vital part of our life. We need to get this principle so deeply ingrained within us that it becomes impossible for us to forget, neglect or overlook it! Romans 8:28 is something that should be a big part of our conscious--and even subconscious--thoughts and way of looking at things.

If we fail to send the events of our daily lives through the filter of Romans 8:28, if we fail to constantly view our disappointments, hurts, tests, illnesses, persecutions, battles, etc., through the perspective that Romans 8:28 gives us, we will tragically miss many valuable lessons the Lord is trying to teach us.--And we will rob ourselves of the peace that comes from absolute trust in this precious promise and principle. If you learn the simple equation, "Trials equal good," your life will be richer, your lessons greater and your mind more tranquil, and you will more easily recognise the Lord's hand in the events of your life. It makes all the difference in the World whether you look at a flood of problems, trials, battles and tribulations just waiting to see the worst happen, or if you look at them with the excitement and challenge that comes from waiting to discover all the good you know the Lord will bring out of them.

So always remember, the Lord LOVES you, and life's DARKEST hour is often just before DAWN! WHATEVER trials may befall you, don't despair, don't give up, don't lose hope!--But look to JESUS in your time of trial, claim and cling to His promises and believe His Word--that whatever it is you're going through, He will truly work it together for your GOOD--and He WILL! He HAS to, it's His PROMISE! He NEVER fails! God bless you!

Don’t things look so much better from this perspective?

CONFIRMATORY SCRIPTURES ON SOME OF THE "BLESSINGS THAT COME FROM BATTLES"! "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes."--Psa.119:71. "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith

worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."--Jam.1:2-4.

"Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."--Jn.15:2.

"If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work."--2Tim.2:21.

"He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."--Job.23:10. "And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly

therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."--2Cor.12:9,10.

"Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered."--Heb.5:8. "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."--Mat.5:4. "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the

comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."--2Cor.1:4. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of

glory."--2Cor.4:17. "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a

while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you!"--1Pet.5:10.

Excerpts taken from the book, “Treasures” and the writings of Maria Fontaine.

Compiled and edited by Gaetan gaetan.goye@gmail.com