Romans 8:28-29 “Cooperating”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²⁸And we know that all [things] are working together into good to the ones loving God, to ones being called ones according to purpose, ²⁹because whom He foreknew He also predestined [to be] ones conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be a firstborn among many brothers.

It is significant to note, when the Lord here promises to us that all things will work together for good, He does not leave us to decide how we want to define “good.” He goes on to say, in fact, we have been called according to “purpose” and that purpose is that we should be conformed to the image of Christ. The “good” He promises us is that He will make us like Jesus! All things are working together for the good purpose of seeing us become more and more like Jesus.

If we would pause and consider this, I think it first of all explains pretty much everyone’s problem with that word “good” and the “all things.” Our natural bent is always to be deciding for ourselves what we think is good and what is not. I like this, but I don’t like that. This is a good thing, but that is bad. I like people and situations that make me feel good, but I do not like people and situations that are for me anything less than positively pleasurable. The Lord steps into our world, promises us all things will work together for good, then immediately it starts raining right when I was going for a walk! Or maybe I’m told I have cancer.

“I don’t see how this can possibly be good,” we complain at the time. We believers have the wonderful opportunity to step back and re-think it all. Notice our verse starts with the words “And we know …” That is our hope. We know that “God is up to something.” I believe I can say, those simple words have at times kept me sane. When my eyes see nothing good about what is happening, I have that rock of faith to fall back on. “God is up to something.” “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” ‘No temptation has taken you except what is common to me, but God is faithful …” The assurance that the Lord has a purpose is certainly one of the rocks upon which we live our faith.

However, I believe this closer look at Romans 8:28,29 would help us to sharpen even this nugget of faith. We are not left to simply believe that God has some good purpose in it all. We know exactly what that purpose is. No matter what is happening, we know that God is using it to make us more like Jesus. That is His goal. That is why He is allowing it. That is what He wants to accomplish. He, in His infinite wisdom, may have a million other purposes, particularly in using us to somehow bless others, but as we hover here for a moment, let us lay hold of this granite truth. We know that for us, for ourselves and our own lives and who we are, God’s good purpose in whatever He is allowing is very specifically that He is molding us to be more and more like Jesus.

I can’t help but insert here that this whole paradigm is not in the least bit unfamiliar to us or anyone else in all of the human race. Anyone ever had a parent? A teacher? A coach? If they were good parents, teachers, and coaches, what do we remember about them? We remember their love and kindness, but we also remember that they pushed us! As a six year old, I stood in the gravel alley in front of our house on the first day of school and I totally could not understand why I had to go to school. I wanted to stay home with my mother. To me there was nothing “good” about this, but I knew I had to go. Then, I can say I had the best track & cross-country coach in the universe, but Louie Baker made me run until literally my lungs burned. In all my life, I never again felt the pain of any workout as much as what Coach Baker put me through.

Now here I am. I eventually made it all the way through Purdue’s (brutal) school of engineering and have reaped the benefits my whole life. I guess it was “good” for me to go to school! (I never did give up liking to be home with my Mom and still snuck in every chance I got! I had a teacher in the 4th grade who knew exactly what I was doing and let me get away with it!) And I got to enjoy the feeling of running miles actually in the 4:00’s! Words utterly fail to express how amazing it feels to be able to run that fast that far. And I’ve enjoyed running now for over 50 years, all because of Louie Baker, who was more concerned about making me a winner than whether I felt “good” at any particular moment.

My point is, isn’t that exactly what the Lord is doing? He has a goal. He is determined to make us winners, to see us walk across that stage, to see us standing up on that podium. In His case the goal we see here in Romans 8:28,29 is for us to be like Jesus. “He who begun a good work in us will continue it …”

That in itself leads in a million different directions worth pondering. However, I’d like to say, as we first of all simply take comfort in this knowledge, may it also help us to realize one of the most important things I can do, then, is to cooperate. If the Lord is trying to make me like Jesus, I need to get my own head lined up with that goal. I honestly didn’t mind Louie Baker making my lungs burn because I totally understood what he was up to. I wanted to be able to run a 4:00-something mile.

If I want to be more like Jesus, and if I can just remember that is why this is happening, it should be one more source of strength to get me through. I need to be (humbly) asking, “Lord, what are you trying to teach me?” As I’m reading the Word and sitting in church, I need to be listening for anything the Lord would say to me that would speak directly to whatever I seem to be suffering through. I would suggest, the more you and I cooperate, the faster we’ll learn. Maybe it might even mean the trials can be shorter. If the goal is to teach me something, maybe the faster I learn it, the sooner it can be over!

I don’t like pain. I don’t want pain. It’s okay to say, “Let this cup pass from Me,” but, on the other hand, Lord, help me to get mentally on Your team. Help me to remember I know exactly what You’re up to. And help me to do whatever I can to actually cooperate with You.

Let us sing and mean it, “O to be like Thee, Blessed Redeemer!”