What Shall We Say?
Read Romans 8:28, 29
Paul had been writing about the great things of the Christian life, including suffering. All of creation is suffering under the curse of sin, and even the most devoted Christian feels the burden of suffering in one way or another.
“What shall we then say to these things?” he asks in verse 31, and he himself give us the answers.
“We know that all things work together for good.” There’s an answer for you! The trials and demands of life are not working against us; they are working for us, and God is in control. The individual trials of life may perplex us, but He knows how to put them all together for our benefit. The separate ingredients that the pharmacists mixes into a prescription might harm us, but, when properly mixed, they bring health. God knows how to “mix” the ingredients of life, you can be sure.
“Shall he not…freely give us all things?” (v. 32). The logic of this statement is obvious: if God cared enough to give us His best, Jesus Christ, then surely He will give us whatever else we may need. God will not give us all that we want, but He will never withhold what we really need.
“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him” (v. 37). The problems and burdens of life will make you either a victor or a victim, depending on whether your faith is in yourself or in Christ. No enemy on earth or in hell can conquer the trusting saint. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” asks verse 31. We are not simply conquerors through Christ; we are more than conquerors.
The “things of life” will assault you day by day, but you need never fear, fret or fail. In Christ you have the victory.
(Copyright, Warren W. Wiersbe. First appeared in Thoughts for Men on the Move. May not be copied or reproduced without express written permission of the author.)
Dr. Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) was an internationally known Bible teacher, author, and conference speaker. He graduated in 1953 from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. While attending seminary, he was ordained as pastor of Central Baptist Church in 1951 and served until 1957. From September 1957 to 1961, Wiersbe served as Director of The Literature Division for Youth for Christ International. From 1961 to 1971 he pastored Calvary Baptist Church of Covington, Kentucky south of Cincinnati, Ohio. His sermons were broadcast as the “Calvary Hour” on a local Cincinnati radio station. From 1971 to 1978, He served as the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago 1971 to 1978. While at Moody Church he continued in radio ministry. Between August 1979 and March 1982, he wrote bi-weekly for Christianity Today as “Eutychus X”, taught practical theology classes at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and wrote the course material and taught a Doctor of Ministry course at Trinity and Dallas Seminary. In 1980 he transitioned to Back to the Bible radio broadcasting network where he worked until 1990. Dr. Wiersbe became Writer in Residence at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. In his lifetime, Dr. Wiersbe wrote over 170 books—including the popular Be series, which has sold over four million copies. Dr. Wiersbe was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).
