One of the most encouraging verses in the entire Bible, and a verse that most Christians know by memory, is
Romans 8:28:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according
to His purpose.
This verse assures us that God is involved in every moment of our lives and that He is always at work to bring
about His good and eternal purposes for us.
The question nearly always arises, however, “If a good God is involved in all things, why do bad things happen?”
Why does a spouse abandon a marriage? Why does a child use drugs? Why does a person lose a job? Why does a family
experience a financial setback? Why does a person experience a major, life-threatening disease?
We each can feel discouraged if we dwell on the negative. Ultimately, we may begin to think, “What difference
does it make if I follow God?”
Let me say three things as we begin this lesson:
1. God is involved in all things. He simply can't be separated from any aspect of life since He
is the creator, sustainer, and orchestrator of all that is. He is actively involved in all details of His creation.
2. God has given man free will. You have been made in the image of God, and part of His image is that
you have freedom of choice. It is out of mankind's freedom of choice that Adam and Eve sinned. The result of their
sin is that all of us are born with a capacity and a propensity to choose sin. We have an inbred sin nature.
Much of the evil that occurs in our world today is rooted in our free will. A spouse chooses to abandon
the marriage. The child chooses drugs. The company chooses to lay off employees.
Sometimes our choices are made unconsciously. A person may not choose to bring on a life-threatening disease,
but years and years of choosing to live in certain ways with certain habits sometimes results in disease. A person
may not choose indebtedness or financial setback, but years and years of overextending or of not saving may result
in a financial crisis. The cause of many problems, including many diseases, is still unknown to us. We live in
a degree of ignorance, and invariably we will make some bad choices in our ignorance.
In still other instances, the “choices” that govern our lives are collective ones over which we have no personal
control. We live in a world that is polluted, crime-ridden, and in many areas, war-torn. The fault lies with no
one person and is not the result of one, singular choice. The collective “whole” of mankind's free will has simply
gone amok, and individuals are victims of a fallen world.
God will not override free will. Most people have a “stay-out-of-my-life-until-I-need-you” attitude toward God.
He does not impose.
This does not mean that God is absent. In the midst of our bad choices—willful, unwillful, individual, or collective—God
is present. He is with us in our times of trouble, doubt, and struggle. He is always at work on our behalf,
desiring our ultimate and eternal best. His Holy Spirit will continue to woo us to an acceptance of Christ and
an opening of our heart to God's love.
Furthermore, we must recognize that sin has consequences. When we come to God, accept the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ on the cross, and receive God's forgiveness, we receive four things:
1. We receive a cleansing of our hearts—a freedom from the guilt and shame we have known in the past.
2. We receive a “new nature”—we are freed from our old sin nature and are given the new nature of Christ
Jesus from that moment on.
3. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit who works in us to enable us to live a new life that is in
keeping with our new nature.
4. We receive the assurance that we have eternal life.
God does not promise us, however, that we will not reap from what we sowed into our lives prior to our coming
to Him for forgiveness. He may choose to avert those consequences, but He does not promise us that
He will do so. What He does promise is that He will use all things for our good and that He will prepare us to
spend eternity with Him.
God does not override our free will or negate the choices that we make with our free will.
• Can you recall an experience in which you chose to do something that you knew was apart from God's commandments?
What happened?
3 God's ultimate purposes will be accomplished. In the end, God will have His way. His will will
be done.
None of us is capable of seeing the big picture of God's plan because it extends into eternity. God alone knows
what He has planned and how He intends to accomplish His master plan. Of one thing we can be certain, God will
remain omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. His nature will not change.
He will always have the power to do what He desires to accomplish.
He will always know precisely what to do to accomplish His purposes.
He will always have sufficient time to accomplish His purposes.
We may rebel against God's purposes, balk at His laws, disobey His commandments, and stubbornly refuse His forgiveness.
Nevertheless, what God has planned, God will do. The decision that we face is this: Will we get in line with God's
plan, or will we rebel against it?
What the Word Says
I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.(Job 42:2)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between Me and you. (Gen. 17:1b–2)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy. (Rev. 15:3–4)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments … that the
LORD your
God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake
you, because you obey the voice of the LORD
your God.… But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God … that all these curses will come upon you and overtake
you. (Deut. 28:1–2, 15)
What the Word Says to Me
Our Response to God Determines Our Outcome
The response we each must make continually in our lives is this: I choose to yield the control of my life
fully to God.
All to God, Nothing Withheld
Yielding control to God is a response we must make with regard to every area of our lives; we must not withhold
anything. We must yield control of our time, our energy, our talents, our money and other resources, our dreams,
our desires, our future, and our total selves. Our surrender to Him must be a complete surrender. God is in all
things and His purposes will ultimately be accomplished, but He will only take control of all areas of our individual,
personal lives if we ask Him to do so.
Two people cannot hold the wheel of an automobile without something going awry on their journey. One alone must
be the driver. The same is true in our lives. We must give control to God and invite Him to be the driving force
and direction of our lives.
The Bible refers to this yielding of control as submission (James 4:7). It is regarded as a “sacrifice” of self
to God (Rom. 12:1).
What the Word Says
Submit to God.… Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your
hearts, you double-minded.… Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:7–8,
10)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1)
What the Word Says to Me
• How do you feel about God's call to submit your life totally to Him?
• In what ways are you feeling challenged in your spirit today?
Consult God Always
A person who has totally yielded his or her life to Christ Jesus will be a person who consults God's about His
will
• at all times,
• about all things, and
• in all situations, circumstances, and relationships.
God is in control of the ongoing daily details of our lives only to the extent that we ask Him often, “What
do You want me to do?”
No situation, circumstance, or relationship is beyond God's caring. He desires to impart to us His wisdom, answers,
and solutions.
Yielding to God is not something we do only once at the time we are saved. It is something we do continually
for the rest of our lives. It is an active consulting of God in all things.
What the Word Says
The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you. (2 Chron. 15:2)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Seek the LORD while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near. (Is. 55:6)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land. (Ps. 63:1)
What the Word Says to Me
Trust God in Methods and Timing
God does not always manifest “control” when or how we think He should. God, however, knows precisely
which method to use in which circumstance. He knows what is best for each life. And He knows precisely when to
employ His chosen method. Our role is to trust Him implicitly.
God speaks to each of us in a voice we can understand. He acts in each of our lives in a way that causes us
to confront our lives and to see Him clearly. When it comes to our own individual lives, God will always impart
His will to us in ways that we can comprehend. We can know His timing and His methods for us.
In the broader scope of life, however, we are not always told what methods God is going to use. We do not know
what God will choose to do to convict a lost sinner of his sin. We do not know what God will do to soften a hardened
heart or to alter a rebellious course. We are to adopt a position of trust: God knows, and God will act when and
how He chooses to act. His purposes are always for good, and so are His methods and His timing.
Jesus said of His second coming that even He did not know God's precise timing: “But of that day and hour no
one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matt. 24:36).
Even when we know with a certainty in our spirits that God is in control and that God is going to act, we must
always wait for God to do so in His timing. If God reveals to us what He is going to do, it is so that we
might be ready to respond when He acts—not so that we can jump ahead of God and exact His justice or extend His
mercy prior to His chosen timetable. We err greatly anytime we get ahead of God or attempt to take matters of justice
into our own hands.
In yielding control to God, our prayer must always be, “Not my will, but Yours. Not my method, but Yours. Not
my timing, but Yours.”
We must also recognize at all times that God is not only concerned about us individually, but about all of His
children. He acts in ways that are beneficial to each of His beloved ones. Sometimes the will of God is delayed
so that more souls may be saved, or even so that one particular lost sheep may be found.
As we trust God to act in the lives of others, we are to have a spirit of expectancy. We are to look
for God at work, and we are to praise Him equally for His long-suffering, His execution of judgment, and His granting
of mercy.
What the Word Says
Read Job 38–39.
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
You are God,
Ready to pardon,
Gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Abundant in kindness. (Neh. 9:17b)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth. (Ps. 145:17–18)
What the Word Says to Me
• How do you feel about our call to trust God in methods and timing? Do you feel encouraged that the Lord
is slow to wrath and patient in judgment? Do you feel encouraged that His methods are not always mankind's methods?
The Encouraging Word
Some of the most encouraging statements you can ever share with another person are these:
• God is in control of the situation, and He will accomplish His purposes.
• You can put yourself on God's side—the side of victory.
• You can trust God to act in precisely the right timing and with precisely the right method to accomplish the
ultimate good in any situation, and in any life.
This world is under the influence of the devil, but it is not under his control. God is in control—now and always.
Pause for a few moments to reflect upon the awesome power of God, and then answer these questions:
• What new insights do you have into God's control over all things? Over your life?
• Have you yielded full control for your life to God? Are you trusting God to exert control on a daily basis
in your life?
• How are you being challenged in your role as one God's encouragers? Is the Lord directing you to share
the encouraging word that “God is in control” with a specific person? What is His timing for you to sharing that
message of encouragement? What is God's method for you to use in sharing this message of encouragement?
From Sharing the Gift of Encouragement
by Charles Stanley. Copyright 1998 by Charles Stanley.
