What Does It Mean That God Is Working for Our Good?
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At first glance, it sounds simple — no matter what happens, God is working it all out for our good. And while that’s true, there’s often more to this promise than we realize. Sometimes, we miss the depth of what this verse is really saying because we assume “good” means everything will always work out exactly the way we want. But does it? Is this promise about always coming out on top, or could there be a deeper meaning we’re overlooking?
I want to unpack what it truly means that God is working for our good. I hope to give you a fresh perspective on this promise — one that may challenge how you have viewed it before. Let’s dig into what God’s plan for our good really means, and how understanding this can transform the way you see your circumstances.
The Conditions Surrounding God Working for Our Good
Before we attempt to understand what God is working for our good means, there are two important qualifiers that exist in this verse.
1. Those who love him…
I have heard many people quote this verse, but it doesn’t work unless you meet the qualifiers. This is a conditional promise for those who love God. How do you define those who love God? The answer is quite simple. Jesus said if you love me, obey my commandments (John 14:15). God is working for the good of those who are actively walking in obedience. They may not do this perfectly, but they desire to do so. If you are disobeying God, which is sin, then God has no obligation to work for your good.
However, here is where this verse becomes an amazing promise. The verse states that in all things, God works for the good. When the Bible says all things, it means all things. That means your good things, your bad things, your best days, your worst days, when you do everything right, and even when you mess it all up, he takes that and somehow works it all for our good. That’s why I refer to this as the most amazing promise in all the Bible.
2. Called according to his purpose…
The second qualifier in this verse is those who have been called to his purpose. This applies to all who have submitted their lives to Christ as savior and Lord. This promise does not apply if you are just running after your own desires and have not surrendered to Jesus as Lord. When you pursue his purpose and you align your will with his, then this promise becomes active in your life. Again, this does not mean you always get it right, it means you are always striving to.
What Does It Mean That God Is Working for Our Good?
Once you have met the qualifiers of the promise, let’s understand what it means that God is working for your good. It is important to first identify what it doesn’t mean.
Working for your good does not mean everything in your life will go perfectly.
In some circles of Christianity, people foolishly believe that God working for our good means everything is going to go well all the time. They believe they will always get the promotion, their business is always going to grow, they will always be healed, they will always end up on top in this life. While that sounds like a wonderful idea, that is not how this promise works or what this verse means.
Here is reality. People who love God and are called according to his purpose face hardships. They lose their jobs and experience financial difficulty. They get sick and they face tragedies. They will experience many of the same realities that people who don’t follow Jesus face and sometimes it feels like they may even experience more. If that is the case, then how is God working for our good? Here is where you need a deeper understanding of what God working for your good truly means.
One enormous problem Christians face is we measure the goodness of God based on the “blessings” we receive. We then equate God working for our good to always ending up more blessed. This is a materialistic understanding of the goodness of God. You cannot judge God working for your good based on what you have or don’t have because possessions can come and go. You measure God’s goodness not based on the things you have received, but on the person he is making you to be.
The Most Important Way God Is Working for Our Good
God’s ultimate desire for your life is to mold you into the image of Christ. Beyond that, his ultimate reward for your life goes beyond earthly success. In fact, the outward signs of earthly success are not even a requirement to know he is working for your good. The ultimate reward is to give you eternal blessings that can never be taken away from you.
When God is working for your good, he may work in the present, but he is also thinking about the eternal. God’s purpose for your life goes far beyond the amount of stuff you accumulate. This does not mean he won’t bless you, even with material things. But it means you cannot use that as the evidence he is working for your good. People who curse God and reject Jesus end up with lots of stuff in this life, but how does that translate to eternal blessing? It doesn’t.
God’s primary focus in working for your good is making you more like Jesus and molding your life so it influences others for this life and for eternity. When you take that perspective, then verses like the one below in James and others in the Bible make more sense and you see God’s goodness in it.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).
God working for your good means he uses the trials and testing of life to mature you and complete you, making you more like Jesus. Being more like Christ makes you more effective and influential in your witness for Jesus, which leads to bearing eternal fruit. This is God working for your good. However, there is one reality we cannot overlook with this.
God Working for Our Good Does Not Mean It Will Always Feel Good
Somehow, we have made Christianity in western cultures like America all about success. The more successful you are, the more it shows how good God is. In direct contrast, biblical Christianity portrays the road to success in God's eyes as one built with sacrifice, surrender, sanctification, and suffering. Winning is not defined by coming out on top; winning in God’s eyes is defined by obedience to his purpose. However, this won’t preach well to many Christians in westernized cultures and if you are looking to grow a big church, these types of sermons are probably not going to win many new congregants. That’s because we have limited God working for our good to the temporary and forgotten about the eternal.
Look at the life of Jesus. He loved the Father and was called for his purpose, and yet that led him to a horrible death on the cross. In the eyes of many in the church today, there would be no good in that. Yet this was the greatest act of the goodness of God the world has ever seen, because it was this sacrifice that made our salvation and access to eternal life possible.
Consider for a moment. What if the hard place in your life is transforming you and opening a door so that others could see you and follow Jesus because of it? It may be uncomfortable and may even hurt, but I wonder if you would see that as God working for your good. It may not seem like it, but he is.
That’s why to do this verse any justice, we must consider it from an eternal perspective. This life will not be easy. Jesus never told us it would be, and you will experience the range of hardships like everyone else. Yet God will take all that and work it for your good. Not that it will always feel good, but God works to produce the excellent result of the character of Christ being formed in your life. This will not only change you, but has the potential to produce life-changing results in others. This is good.
So here is a final thought. God works for your good so that good can influence others. As you can see, this goes far beyond just material blessings or getting the things we want.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
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