When God Is Working Things Out for Your Good

In this encouraging message, Pastor Chris walks through one of the most quoted and often misunderstood promises in the Bible, Romans 8:28–30. He explains what it truly means that “God works for the good” and shows how that good is not comfort or ease, but becoming more like Christ. Through Scripture, personal testimony, and pastoral insight, this message invites you to trust God not just in crisis, but in every ordinary day. 

Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/18770580

Key Points:

1. God is working in all things – Romans 8:28
    God is not just a rescue plan in emergencies. He is constantly at work in the life of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
2. God is shaping us to be like Christ – Romans 8:29
    The ultimate good is not wealth, comfort, or success, but conformity to Jesus. Every circumstance becomes part of God’s sanctifying work.
3. God is faithful from beginning to end – Romans 8:30
    From calling to justification to glorification, God’s saving work forms an unbreakable chain. What He begins, He completes.
4. The promise is personal and conditional
    This assurance belongs to those who love God and belong to Him. Salvation comes through repentance and faith in Christ alone.

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris:
 Pastor Chris shares how losing a construction job and briefly working in an optical lab opened the door to long term provision and health insurance for his growing family. He also recounts how purchasing a foreclosure home unexpectedly made adoption possible. These stories illustrate how God often works behind the scenes in ways we only understand later.

Notable Quotes:
 God is not promising that everything is good. He is promising that He is working for good.
 The ultimate good in your life is not comfort. It is Christlikeness.
 God is faithful from beginning to end.

Actionable Takeaways:
 Reflect on seasons where you now see God’s hand at work.
 Ask yourself whether you are measuring good by comfort or by Christlikeness.
 Write down your testimony so others can see God’s faithfulness.
 If you have never trusted Christ, call on Him today in repentance and faith.

Scripture References:
 Romans 8:28–30 – God’s sovereign work for the believer’s good
 Romans 8:1, 15–16 – No condemnation and adoption as God’s children
 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 – Present troubles and eternal glory
 Psalm 34:19 – The righteous face many troubles
 John 3:16–18 – Salvation through belief in Christ
 Romans 10:9–10 – Confessing and believing for salvation

Keywords:
 Romans 8:28, God’s sovereignty, suffering and faith, Christlikeness, adoption, justification, sanctification, Christian hope, trusting God, biblical encouragement

Challenge:
 Trust that God is working in all things, shaping you to be like Christ, and remaining faithful from beginning to end. 

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The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

Chris T 0:16

Living with God's help every day. So we're coming to in Romans chapter 8, one of my favorite passages, one of my favorite verses in the Bible, but it is often a verse that can be misused. So I want to talk about that today. We have a picture on the screen for the sermon title of a guy fishing with his son on the lake. And it is a good time. I'm sure that's got us thinking about summertime and what is coming next. But the boy, he's just fishing in the boat. He's not concerned about what's under the water or what's coming. He's just out there trusting his dad on the water. He's not steering. He's not navigating. He's not ski. The boy's not scanning the horizon for danger. He is just trusting the one that he is with this guy, probably his dad, I assume. And that is what it means for us to walk with God in our life is that we do not know everything that's going on. We're not steering, we're not navigating. We are just trusting about that God is going to get us through, that God is going to help us, and that God is at work in our lives. Many times we only call on God when we get the diagnosis or we get the layoff notice, or we have a strained relationship when the kids or adult kids go astray, when marriages get tough, when all of those things we cry out to God. But this passage in Romans chapter 8 tells us that God is not just occasionally involved in our life. He's not our rescue 911. He is constantly working in our life, not just for crisis, but for ordinary days, for Monday mornings, for quiet afternoons, and when nothing dramatic seems to be happening, God is at work. So I'm going to read the passage just real quick, and then I'll go through it verse by verse. So Romans 8 28. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called. Those he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified. So number one, God is working in all things. God is working in all things. Do you believe that? Do you believe that God is working in all things? So, as some of you probably already know, I can look back on my life and tell you many ways that God was at work when I thought the world was falling apart. And I find it to be encouraging, and I think that it encourages other people. But when I was in high school, my grandparents owned a Hardy's restaurant and I always worked with food. I was like, food, food, food. And I was like, Lord, please give me a job that has nothing to do with food. Something my hands don't smell like onions. So I got a job at an optical lab. And I tinted eyeglass lenses and I worked in this optical lab. And about three weeks into it, someone from my church said, Hey, would you come to this Bible camp and work with us? And I'm like, I can't because I'm working here. And he's like, Well, why don't you come work for us as a construction laborer? And I'm like, How much does it pay? And it paid way more. So I was able to go work at this camp for a period of time, and I was able to do this construction labor thing. So I was only at this optical job for three weeks. I did not like the job at all. I was so glad to be hired away. So then I was working at the construction job and I met this perfect girl, and we got married, and then we said it'd be wonderful to have children, and so we had a child on the way. And then the construction guys, they're like, the contractors are like, well, if you're gonna be married and have a baby on the way, we don't pay you enough to work here. You have to go work somewhere else. And I was devastated that I no longer had a job. And I had called for health insurance and I had called the health partners and I said, Can I get health insurance? And they're like, No, you can't get health insurance because your wife has a pre-existing condition. She's pregnant, you can't get health insurance. And so I was devastated by that, and I needed to find a job. So I applied at this other optical company, this optical lab, and so in the shipping department, I applied, and they called me back right away. And they're like, You are the only applicant we have in our huge stack of applicants that has optical experience. So therefore, you go to the top of the pile. And like I said, I only worked there for three weeks. But anyway, that opened the door, and then they got me on their health insurance so that when Julie had our first child, we only paid$15 for a private room. And I worked, I gained experience at this work in construction and stuff, but God was working behind the scenes, and there's been this constant trail. I'm gonna point out one other one, too, that's real obvious. I was able actually to use the construction stuff as a man to get through life on my own homes, but also for a missions trip that I went on. We had always wanted to have two kids and adopt a child, and so we still hadn't adopted a child, and we're praying to adopt a child. And so when I came up to Chisholm, I had to find a place to live, and there were a few houses available that we liked way more than the house that we ended up getting, which was a foreclosure which needed a lot of work. And so some of the church people actually helped us, like this wonderful carpet store in Chisholm helped us. But nonetheless, we realized later that of all the houses we looked at, that the only one that qualified for us to do foster care, which would lead to adoption, was that foreclosure house. The other houses we looked at, the windows weren't big enough. And God worked in that. He knew what we needed, he knew everything about how it was going to work out and all these things that we thought were terrible. You know, I lost the construction job. Oh, this is terrible. I can't get health insurance. And then God provided, God opened the door, God was at work. And the same thing with the construction skills to actually help me to fix the foreclosure house, but to be in the house that allowed us to adopt a child and all of those things. God is at work. And I hope that maybe this week, maybe you can take the back of your bulletin or your note cheat or whatever, and just think about your life and think about things that you could not have orchestrated, things that you could not have done on your own, things that you thought were bad, that God worked for good, that God worked it out so what you thought was bad was actually good. Maybe it was an experience, maybe it was something that happened. And then there's other things in your life, though, that there's really no explanation. Someday when you go be with Jesus, you can ask him why you went through that hard thing, why that marriage didn't work out, why that child died, why you struggled with this illness or sickness or all of those things. Some of those things don't have an answer. And that's why it gets dangerous when we tell people that we know that in all things God works for the good of those. So when we also when we say, oh, it's good, it's okay. God meant it for good. When somebody dies, when they lose their child, you don't go, oh, it's okay. Romans 8.28 says that God meant it for good. Because that's not what this verse is saying. It's not saying that everything in your life is good, it's saying that God is working for the good. Paul isn't saying that in just some things. Paul is saying that God is at work in all things and we know this to be true. Earlier, a couple verses before that, he says we don't know what to pray for the Holy Spirit. He's going to help us pray. He's interceding for us, because when we don't know what to pray for, he can help us. But we don't know what tomorrow holds. We don't know what events will unfold. We don't know why certain things happen, but we can trust that if we are Christ followers, if we are those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose, that God is at work for our good, that God is working through those things. Reminds me of this Chinese story or parable that talks about this. A man in China raised horses for a living. When one of his prize stallions ran away, his friends gathered at his home to mourn his great loss. After they had expressed their concern, the man raised this question How do I know whether what happened is bad or good? Because his horse ran away. A couple days later, the runaway horse returned with several strays following close behind. The same acquaintances again came to his house, this time to celebrate his good fortune. And the man said, But how do I know whether it's good or bad? That very afternoon, the horse kicked his own the owner's son and broke the young man's leg. Once more the crowd assembled, now to express their sorrow over the incidents. How do I know whether this is bad or good? The father asked again. A few days later, war broke out. The man's son was exempted from military service because of his broken leg. Again the friends gathered. From our limited human perspective, we can't know with certainty how to interpret life's experiences. For the trusting child of God, however, it's altogether different. We can be assured that God is working for our benefit through everything that happens. We do not need to ask, as did the old Chinese gentleman, how do I know whether it's good or bad? And so when you think about the things that are in your life, the things that are going on in your life, you can know that God is at work if you are a Christ follower, if you are a believer, if you love God. Ephesians 2.11 says, Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. So he is at work. This is supposed to be to encourage struggling believers. That is the reason that Paul has written Romans chapter 8, to encourage us that God is at work, to know that God is at work for our good. I mentioned last month in the Hebrews chapter 12, I think it was the message where God is like a coach, that God disciplines us when we're out of line for our good. So James says when troubles and trials come our way, that we should consider it an opportunity for great joy, because it helps develop perseverance in our faith. So the question when we look at Romans 8.28 and we look at our life circumstances isn't, is God making me comfortable? Is God making me blessed? Is God making me rich? Now, the question, is God at work shaping my life through these circumstances so that I can be more like Jesus? Or is God giving us, maybe we didn't create the circumstance, maybe it's a result of a bad choice. Maybe our mess is one that we created on our own because we knowingly did the wrong thing. But 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 3 says, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. Then it talks about sharing abundantly in the sufferings of Christ. But can you invest in people? Can you share knowingly, caringly with people going through bad things that you aren't you don't know exactly what they're going through, but you have had a similar experience. And it was hurtful, it was hard, it was difficult, and this is how God got me through. This is how God worked it out, this is where I am now compared to where I was. And it doesn't mean that God made everything perfect, it doesn't mean God restored the marriage, it doesn't mean that God healed the body, it doesn't mean it doesn't mean your prodigal child returned, but what it does mean is that God is getting you through, God is making you more like Jesus, God can help you. 2 Thessalonians 2 says, as for us, we can't help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters, loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation, a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. He called you to salvation when we told you the good news. Now we can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. To have that relationship, to know that God is working those things through, but it's a conditional promise. It's a conditional promise only for those who love God and have been called according to his purpose. Do you love God? If you look in Romans chapter 8, you will see that in verse 15 and 16 that we have those of us who have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the ones who love God, are those who belong to him as adopted children. So it says that you've received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children, and we call out to Him Abba Father, for His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we're God's children. So Jesus said, If you love me, keep my commandments. So if a person rejects God, refuses him, or walks away from him, they cannot claim Romans 8 28 as a promise because they do not know the promiser. So God doesn't force his care, God doesn't force his will upon those who don't want it. But God has called us to live a pure, holy life. And that is a good way to live. So the Bible doesn't say when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that everything is going to be easy. It doesn't say that everything is going to be blessed. Matter of fact, Psalm 3419 says the righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. Sometimes it's on the other side of eternity that you're delivered from those troubles. But you can know that God is at work. God is at work every day in the believer's life. God will send people into your life to encourage you, to motivate you. God, if you tune in to the right channels, God can use Christian media to help you to hear a word from Him through music or through someone that comes on the radio, a message. But Isaiah 43, 2 says, When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you. A general purpose to help us in our life. Do you believe that? Do you believe that God is at work in our lives? Do you believe this to be true? When bad things happen to you, will you still proclaim this to be a truth? Do you trust God that much and just say, I do not know why I'm going through this? I do not know why I have to suffer in this way. I do not know why there is this loss or my need isn't met or all of these things. God, I do not get it, but I trust you. Years ago, Professor E. C. Caldwell ended his seminary lecture. He said, Tomorrow, to his class of seminary students, tomorrow I will be teaching on Romans chapter 8. So tonight, as you study, pay special attention to verse 28. Notice what this verse truly says and what it doesn't say. And then he added, One final word before I dismiss you. Whatever happens in all the years to come, remember Romans 8 28 will always hold true. That same day, Dr. Caldwell and his wife met with a tragic car train accident. She was killed instantly, and he was crippled permanently. Months later, Professor Caldwell returned to his students who clearly remembered his last words. The room was hushed as he began his lecture. Romans 8 28, he said, still holds true. One day we shall see God's good even in this. To know that God is getting us through. To those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. So what is his purpose? What is God doing in our lives? What does God value more than our comfort, than our prosperity, than our good, than our peace? Number two, God is shaping us to be like Christ. That's God's motivation to make us like Christ. Because verse 29 says, For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. So God is at work wanting to make us more and more like Jesus. So those God foreknew, for knowledge is not God discovering information ahead of time. So God knows all. He knows the past, he knows the future, he knows every event that will occur, every event that could occur but will not, and every consequence attached to every possibility. And this can open up a huge theological can of worms, but to know that God knows what is going on. And so the predestination here is that those who believe in Christ are on the path to become like Jesus, to become conform to the image of his son, to become like Jesus. And that is a good thing. Predestined means to mark out beforehand, to be determined and advanced, to determine and advance the destination and to set boundaries around the outcome. So foreknowledge is not determinism. Determinism says every action is predetermined in such a way that human choices are meaningless. Scripture doesn't teach that. The Bible calls people to come, believe, repent, and respond. Once we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are on a path to become more and more like Jesus. 1 John 3 2, dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him, for see him as he really is. To know that we are on our way to be conformed to the image of his son. So to be conformed to the image of his son is to make us more and more like Jesus. And as we go down that path, as we live that way, we know that 2 Corinthians 4.17 says our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So we don't look at the troubles we can see now. Rather, we rather we fix our gaze on the things that we cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, the things we cannot see will last forever. God is at work using the difficult things, using the little things, using the insignificant things to make us more and more like Jesus, so that we might be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters, children of God, because we're adopted as children of God. And that is such a wonderful thing to be invited into God's family, so to know that we are on a path. God's love. God loves his son supremely. He has determined that his son will have many brothers and sisters who share his likeness. So this helps prevent despair. You know, if it were just determined, if God had already decided everything that was going to happen, if God already set the course of our lives and it didn't matter, then it wouldn't make sense to pray or obey or persevere. But even though God knows our choices matter, and we should live as if God knows all and is in control, and if our choices matter. When we choose to do the right thing, when we choose to avoid temptation, when we choose to live in a way that pleases the Lord, it glorifies him and it brings us joy and reward, and that is a good thing. That is a good way to live. So many Christians think that life is supposed to be trouble free. Many think that if there's trouble, that maybe it's God's discipline, or maybe God has turned his face against me. Maybe God is just against me because things aren't working out the way that I want. But God gives other people freedom of choice too. So sometimes the circumstances you go through are the result of other people making sinful, godless choices. Number three, God is faithful from beginning to end. God is faithful from beginning to end. So do you believe that? Do you believe that God is going to be faithful to you from beginning to end as you go through this life? Because verse 30 says, Those he predestined, he also called, and those he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified. It's a path that God has for the believers. Called. God came from you. Those he predestined, he also called. So the word called clearly refers to the effectual call of God, not merely a general invitation. The call of God is one that you have received if you have Jesus Christ in your life. If you've received Jesus, you have received that call. Paul places it in an unbreakable chain. Those God predestined, he called. Those he called, he justified. Those he justified, he glorified. Since not everyone who hears the gospel is justified, this cannot be the outward call that many resist. Instead, it is God's powerful inward work by which the Holy Spirit awakens the sinner, grants repentance and faith, and brings that person into saving union with Christ. This call accomplishes what God intends. It does not simply invite, it brings about justification and secures future glory. So it was when you realized that you saw your sin, you saw your need, you saw Jesus as Savior. That was God's calling, and you responded. You responded. You responded that God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Verse 17 of John chapter 3. God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. To know that God calls, and if you have heard the effectual call of God and responded that you have been adopted as God's child, John 1 12, yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. That salvation comes, according to Romans chapter 10, through declaring with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead. If you do that, you'll be saved, for it's with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it's with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. And that leads us to where we've been in Romans, how we started this. In Romans chapter 8. If you have done that, if you've received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, therefore there's no now con no, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So no condemnation. Romans 5.1. Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul writes us to encourage people. Paul writes us to encourage the believer that God is at work in their life every day in every way through every struggle that we go through. But do you know, do you trust that God is faithful from beginning to end? Can you write down a path of how you can trace God at work in your life? It'd be really cool if you would write down your testimony and you would write down the good things that God did in your life in a way that people could find it. Someday you'll go to be with Jesus and you'll be gone and we'll all gather to remember you. We'll gather to celebrate your life. Or maybe we'll gather to celebrate my life because I'll die before you. I don't know. But nonetheless, people will wonder who was that person? And if you could leave your testimony, your God experience, your faith story, that would encourage other people. Sometimes your faith story is one that you would want to share publicly. That would be so encouraging to us as a church together as believers in Christ. And if you've never received Jesus, maybe you should call out to him today something like, Lord Jesus, I realize I am a sinner in need of salvation. Jesus, please forgive me of my sin and come into my life and save me and make me the person you created me to be. I want to follow you. I want to learn your ways. I want to be in your will. Thank you for giving us the Bible to teach us and guide us in the way that we should live. For us as believers, help us to tune in, to spend more time reading and listening and thinking about Scripture and how it applies in our life. But we just thank you in Jesus' name. Next time we get together, we're talking about how to live confidently in God's love, and we'll continue and finish off Romans chapter 8. And when I think about Romans chapter 8 and how God works everything together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose, I remember, as you do, in Luke chapter 22, that when it comes to the Last Supper, that Jesus tells his disciples, so Luke chapter 22, verse 7. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go make preparations for us to eat the Passover. And they said, Where do you want us to prepare for it? They asked. He replied, As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, The teacher asks, Where is the guest room? Where I may eat the Passover with my disciples, and he will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there. And as they left and found things, just as they left and found things just as Jesus had told them, so they prepared the Passover. And so Jesus knew everything about what was going to happen. I mean, what are the chances you're going to do? Does the guy just go around carrying the jar of water all day? Probably not, but God knows what's going on. God can work these things out in your life. God can arrange circumstances in amazing ways for you to meet people, for you to share his message, for you to accomplish things. So many things can happen when you're faithful to live in the Lord and faithful to show up to where he wants you to be.