Day 25: Everything works together for good

In Romans 8:28, Paul says:

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV)

So in all God's dealings in our lives, He's always working for the good. That's His ultimate aim. It comes up to His own standard of excellence that we're already seen exemplified in creation, where God did not pass anything or move onto the next phase until he saw that what was already created was good. God seeks and pursues excellence in every area, but particularly in the lives of us who are His servants and His people. But bear in mind, it's not just excellence in the temporal but far more, it's excellence in the eternal.

God wants to produce in us an eternal kind of goodness, primarily a moral goodness, something that will stand the test of eternity, something that will not fade and wither at the end of this life. He is always working in your life and in mine for results that are eternal. We have to bear that in mind. Many times we pass through troubles and problems and situations and we say, "God, I don't understand, how could you let this happen to me?" We don't understand because we're not doing it with God's priority. God says, "Whatever happens in time is of secondary importance to what happens in shaping your eternal character because time is going to end, but what you are in your character is eternal and you're going to live with that through eternity. So I always give priority, God says, "to the eternal above the temporal."