“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
“Kevin, grab the butter and eggs from the refrigerator, please. And Cara Ann, see if there’s more sugar in the pantry,” instructed Mom as she checked over the recipe. Kevin and Cara Ann were helping their mom make a special treat: a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for Dad’s birthday.
As they finished gathering the necessary ingredients, Mom got out the baking chocolate. “Yummmm!” said Kevin as he watched her set the large, thick bar on the counter.
“Can we have a little bit of that?” asked Cara Ann, her mouth already watering.
“That’s not such a good idea,” Mom replied. “This kind of chocolate doesn’t taste good at all. It’s called bittersweet chocolate. I don’t think you’ll like it.”
But Kevin and Cara Ann pleaded, “Pleeeeeease! Just a teeny bit!” Mom consented and gave them each a sliver of the chocolate bar. “Yuck! Disgusting!” they both said as they started spitting the chocolate into the trash can.
“You were right, Mom,” said Kevin. “That’s awful.”
“But it’s so good in the birthday cake,” pointed out Cara Ann. “Why does it taste so bad by itself?”
Both Cara Ann and Kevin listened as Mom explained that the bittersweet baking chocolate needed the other ingredients in the cake, like the sugar and butter, to make it tasty. Until it was all mixed together, the chocolate would taste nasty.
“That reminds me of our memory verse from Sunday School last week,” said Cara Ann excitedly. “It was Romans 8:28. ‘All things work together for good—’” she began.
“Oh, yeah!” Kevin interrupted. “Our teacher told us that God will take both bad and good things in our lives and combine them to produce something good. That’s just like the gross baking chocolate being mixed with other ingredients to make a delicious chocolate cake.”
“You’re exactly right,” said Mom, nodding her head. “God has a purpose in everything He brings our way—whether it’s enjoyable for us at the time or not. In the end, though, we’ll see that His plan was the best. He’ll bring everything together for good. We just need to trust Him and leave the results in His hands.”
If you belong to God, He is working everything in your life together for your good.
My response:
» Are there some things going on in my life that I don’t really like?
» Have I given those things over to God?
» Am I completely trusting Him to make “all things work together for good” in my life?