ALL things, not only GOOD things, work together for your good || Becky Olorunpomi

One of the most important lessons I have learned in my walk with God is that He's got everything figured out. No matter how dark the night may seem, no matter how hopeless the situation appears, no matter how gloomy the future looks now, nothing takes Him by surprise. He's got it all figured out.

What that teaches is that regardless of the situation, our God can still turn it around and create something beautiful out of it, if we trust Him enough to relinquish control to Him.

In this post, Becky shares helpful insight from Romans 8:28, a Scripture many know well, but misunderstand to a point. It's a great read...enjoy
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“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” (Romans 8:28). I’m sure you are familiar with that scripture...but let's dig into the text further, shall we?

I have read this portion of the scripture several times and at a point in my family, it became our watchword. But I have also discovered that many a times, we seem to misunderstand or misinterpret this scripture. At times, we interpret this scripture to be “And we know that all good things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

But the Bible didn't say that. This means that, all things (which includes the good, the bad, the ugly, the palatable, the unpalatable, the sweet, and the bitter) work together for the good of those who love God. This means that God can decide to use any situation to bring your answer to you.

Whenever I read this scripture, I remember an incident that happened to me during my junior secondary school days. As a young girl, I was involved in sports, especially track and field. I was one of the fastest in my school and always came first especially in the 100 and 200 meters races. I also represented my school in outdoor competitions. And this didn’t affect my studies.

When I was in my final junior class, I asked my parents to buy me a mathematical set but they couldn't afford it at that time, so I prayerfully asked God to give me a Maths set. Then we started practising for that year's inter-house sports. I was in Red house and for every practice, I always came first. Even on days when I wasn't too well.

On the D-day, we were in our lanes. "Puah", the whistle blew and the race began. I had been running ahead of everyone as usual. Suddenly, I didn't know what happened, I just saw the girl behind me run past and surge ahead of me...

What! How could this be? What happened? I thought as I wondered how the girl who always finished second behind me in our practice sessions suddenly ran past me and was ahead of me!

This discouraged me and I stood still on the track! I was too discouraged to run any further which made every other person pass me.

My house master and other officials were screaming my name cheering me to continue running, but I was too shocked and discouraged to continue. I started crying.

People came around me, patted me on my shoulders and wiped the tears from my face. Even the sport officials were shocked at my display. I was later encouraged to get ready for the 200 meters.

After all activities for the day, it was time for prize giving. Of course I got a gold medal and a prize in the 200 meters race.

However, when it was time for the 100 meters prize, the girl who outran me and came first was given a big fanciful bucket with her medal.
Then the girl who took the second position (which would have been me if I had finished the race), got a brand new Maths set!

What? That was what I asked God for, I thought to myself as the tears came back, but this time I hid it from everyone. That was how I missed the opportunity to have a new Maths set.

My parents later gave me the Maths set as a consolation after they heard the story.... But I never forgot that experience.

Does this ring a bell........? "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."

God knew that the answer to my prayer was in me taking the second position and despite the fact that I was the fastest runner in that race, He allowed a seeming failure happen so that in the end, I would laugh and ignore that seeming setback because my heart desire would have been met. But I missed it because I didn't want that "failure."

In the same vein, most people ask God for things and believe that He would do them in a particular way, but when suddenly some seeming failures or setbacks which we didn't envisage begin to happen, we get discouraged and want to change it.

We always want to be on top of our games. But God knows what ways to use to bring our heart desires to us because He is able to make ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR YOUR GOOD AS HIS CHILD.

So when next you read Romans 8:28, always know that He can choose anyway, format, style or method to answer your prayers. And all you need to do is just trust and follow Him.
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Becky Olorunpomi is a writer and speaker. She's a reporter at the Fountain of Life church office, Ilupeju. 
She is also the convener of the annual Singles Summit which also has a Facebook page (Singles Gist). 
She obtained a BA in English and Literary studies as well as a PGD and MSc in Mass communication.
You can follow her on Twitter: @bodex4mama