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All Things

              He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)

Let’s begin with an obvious idea. When Paul wrote “all things,” he wasn’t saying that God would make us God, allow us to be repeatedly murdered in the most painful ways possible, or make it only rain between sunset and dawn (a la Camelot.) There are lots of things “all things” does not include and that we would not want it to include. If “all things” included all things we would get a lot that would ultimately do us harm, not just the things we think we want.

Today’s verse isn’t the only place in Romans 8 that we find the words, “all things.” Four verses earlier, we’re told that God causes all things to work out for the good of those called according to His purpose. Once again, the keys are the definitions of all things and good. So, working from the greatest commandment, “good” refers to what will strengthen our relationship with and our love for God, then what will strengthen our relationship and our love for our neighbors. I’ll go so far as to suggest that “neighbors” includes everyone and everything we encounter, with a slight emphasis on everyone. Thirdly, “good” refers to what will strengthen us and make us better able to love God and our neighbors.

In other words, all things isn’t likely to include much of what we want it to. It becomes a life of ease when we step down from the throne of our lives and learn to trust that all things God permits in our life are for our good and all things that God doesn’t permit are not good for us. As Dallas Willard describes it, the life of ease comes when we accept whatever God gives us as good, even when we don’t understand it.

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