We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Throughout 2020 I heard the Christian community (myself included) reference the above verse. 

• Pandemic? “All things work together for good.”

• Racial injustice? “All things work together for good.”

• Presidential election? “All things work together for good.” 

We see this verse cross-stitched on pillows and hand-lettered on art prints. But what does it really mean?

For a long time, I mistakenly understood this as, “everything happens for a reason” or “God has a plan!” I often clung to this verse and used it as a spiritual bandaid for the hard stuff. On some level, I think I carried around a false Lion King philosophy… and thought, “Sometimes bad things happen, and there’s nothing you can do about it, so why worry? Hakuna Matata.”

AKA: It will all work out…

And while there’s some truth to this, I recently learned this isn’t entirely what Paul, the author of Romans, was getting at. The words “work together” are translated from the original Greek word “sunergos”, which means a fellow worker, associate, or helper. N.T. Wright says Paul uses this word in other letters and it refers to God being at work with people, “doing what he wants to do in the world, not all by himself, but through human agency.”

This means we are called to be active participants in a suffering world. If bad things are happening, we’re supposed to step up and do something about it. We’re supposed to work together with God to create positive change. Later in Romans 12:6-21 Paul talks about what this might look like.

Serve.
Teach.
Encourage.
Give.
Lead.
Show mercy.
Love.
Honor each other.
Practice hospitality.
Rejoice.
Mourn.
Do not take revenge.
Live in harmony with one another.
Overcome evil with good.

In other words, God does have a plan. We are the plan.

God isn’t “working things together for good” on his own, while we passively stand by and watch things unfold. He wants to cooperate with us, partner with us, and work jointly toward good. We each have a responsibility to work toward good in this world - whatever that looks like for you.

I’ll end this post with a prayer you’re likely familiar with - The Lord’s Prayer. It’s how Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13. I was recently reminded of how this prayer starts out with “Our Father” … not “My Father”. Hopefully this both challenges and comforts you - like it has for me.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.