Guest
Speaker
1/21/07 –
This is Good –
Romans 8:28
Audio Sermon
This is Good
by George Boose
“And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28)
"Once upon a time." How long has it been since you heard
a story that began like that – once upon a time? Well, we’re going to have one
today. Once upon a time there was a great and mighty king who ruled deep in the
heart of Africa. This man ruled with complete power over his people. Ever since
birth he cherished one really close friend. They had grown up together. His
constant companion, help and advisor, his friend had a very unique and
outstanding quality – he always looked on the bright side of things. Whatever
happened – whether it seemed good or bad at the moment – his friend would
invariably comment – “This is good!”
One day the king and his friend set out on a hunting
expedition into the jungle. The king loved to hunt – it was his favorite
pastime. His friend was always responsible for preparing the ammunition and guns
that they took along on their safaris. This time, however, something went
terribly wrong. When the king spotted his quarry and pulled the trigger, the
bullet exploded in the breech of the gun and completely blew off the king’s
thumb. Immediately, the friend wrapped a cloth around the injury to stop the
blooding as the king howled in agony. But then the friend committed a fatal
error – he looked at his wounded friend and remarked, “This
is good!”
The king became enraged. This was too much. Often before
dawn through the years he would become slightly irritated at everything being
described as “This is good!” But now he was hurting, his hand permanently
disfigured. To make it worse, it was his friend’s fault for preparing the
ammunition in a faulty manner – and he had the nerve to utter, “This
is good!” When they returned to their village the king had his friend
thrown into prison – a horrible place - and he never visited him again.
About a year later the king recovered sufficiently from
his injury to go hunting again. This time he packed his own guns and prepared
the ammunition himself, and set off alone. Unfortunately, the king didn’t
realize that a neighboring, warlike tribe of cannibals was also hunting nearby –
for human food. Suddenly, the king was surrounded by ferocious warriors, roughly
subdued and dragged back to their camp. They tied him to a stake, began to boil
water, and pranced and danced around him, constantly poking him with sharp
sticks. But they soon noticed that he was missing a thumb. The drums instantly
stopped. They untied the king and forced him out of the camp. He ran home. Why
was he saved! Being extremely superstitious, his captors believed that eating
anyone who was less than completely whole would cause a terrible curse to fall
upon them.
When the king got home he finally remembered his friend
and immediately went to the prison to release him. He apologized over and over
and said, “It really was good my thumb was blown off – it
saved my life from the cannibals. I was wrong to put you in prison.” But
his friend said, “No, going to prison was good.”
The king didn’t understand and asked, “How could being in
this dungeon be good?” The friend patiently explained, “If
I hadn’t been in jail, I would have been captured by the cannibals too – and I
am completely whole.”
That is an amusing, “once upon a
time” type of story. But there are some very real lessons in it for us.
In his own way, the king’s friend had found a way to rejoice in all things. No
matter how hard it may seem, as Christians we also are supposed to rejoice in
all things. In Ephesians 5:19-20 we read, “Sing and make
music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for
EVERYTHING, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are to give thanks for
everything. In essence, like the king’s friend, we are to say, “This
is good!”
We immediately realize that is an extremely hard thing
to do. Sometimes we get sick or receive a bad report from the doctor, a friend
dies, all types of calamities befall us – how can we be expected to give thanks
for everything? How can we always say, “This is good!”
One thing that we must learn to do is be patient – to
give the Lord some time. We should try to understand that although our
circumstances don’t appear to be good at the time, we may have been, like the
king’s friend, able to avoid the cannibals. The Apostle Paul tells us, “And
we know that all things work together for good to them that love God”
(Romans 8:28 – King James Version). In the midst of life’s sufferings God is
working on every detail of our existence so that ultimately they will fit into
His eternal plan.
A young man once felt there was nothing good about his
life. He raised his arms toward heaven and shouted, “Lord,
I can’t go on, my cross is too heavy to bear.” The Lord replied, “Son,
if your cross is too heavy, just place it here in this room and open that door
over there and pick out any cross you wish.” The man muttered his thanks
and eagerly opened the door to pick out another cross – but he was horrified to
find a room full of huge crosses. Finally, however, he spotted a tiny cross in
the corner and he said, “I’ll take that one.” The
Lord replied, “Son, that’s the cross you just brought in.”
Sometimes we are more fortunate than we think. There’s a verse called "Your
Cross" that goes something like this:
“Whatever
your cross, whatever your pain,
There will always be sunshine after the rain.
Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall,
But God’s always there to help through it all.”
It’s not always easy – sometimes it seems like we would
choke on the words if we were to say, “This is good!”
But always remember, God did place His rainbow in the sky after the rain fell.
What a wonderful promise He has given us.
Reading from 2 Corinthians 4:18, “So
we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is
temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” The “Liberty
Bible Commentary” explains this verse this way: “In
the sufferings of life the power of God transforms the experience of the
faithful Christian into glorious expectation.” Another translation of
this verse also adds, “The troubles will soon be over, but
the joys to come will last forever.” All things do work together for
good.
Jesus Himself may have wondered about God’s plan – how
can all this be good? Christ knew what was coming. He prayed in the Garden of
Gethsemane, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be
taken from Me” (Matthew 26:39). He knew that all things work together for
good. Nevertheless, He was also facing the cross. That certainly didn’t seem
very good. Jesus put His faith in His Father. And Sunday came. Up from the grave
He arose! He triumphed over death. He paid the price so that we could find
salvation from our sins. That was good!
Jesus now reigns at the right hand of God – waiting some
day to call us home. Waiting to show us how all things did work together for
good to them that love God. And when that day does come, we will able to say
without hesitation – "THIS IS GOOD!"
Today's sermon is from "Sermons
for Seniors," with permission from the author, George Boose. Thank
You, Father, for Mr. Boose and this sermon. Please bless many through it. In
Jesus Name. Amen.
