It is All Good!

Church in Chiang Mai Church January 2015 First I would like to share a story with you from Africa…. The story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!" One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail. About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took them to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way. As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this." "No," his friend replied, "This is good!" "What do you mean, 'This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?" "If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you." I just told that story to my congregation last week. It is a story that fits our situation – but I think that the story has a universal truth that applies to all of our lives. We are all asking God why – Why are these things happening to me. In life there are things that happen – we say – I am a good person – but where is the good in my life? How is the the suffering that I am going through a good thing? Well the good new of Romans 8:28 is that when we are Christians- that all things work for the good of those who are Christians and put their life inside of Christ. Even bad things will turn out for good. The book of Romans is one of my favorite books of the bible. If someone wants to learn what it means to be a Christian and why christ is important – I would tell them to read the book of Romans – specifically Romans 8 It tells you all that you need to know about faith and Christ. Romans 8 contains 8 key promises for our lives. The first word of Romans 8 is Life through the spirit – there is no condemnation for those who live in christ. 1. For is – If God has forgiven you then no one else has a right to condemn you. 2. God’s Spirit – the spirit of Christ is always inside of you - helping you go through every situation 3. If God’s spirit is in you – then you are a son or daughter of Christ. 4. When we suffer, it is God’s glory that will give you hope 5. The spirit comes to us in our weakness, when we do not have the words to express our pain or pray – we can trust the spirit to speak to God on our behalf. The last three are the good one Verse 30 says - God thought about you before you were born. God called you to be a Christian. If God called you - then he justified you – he sanctified you – he cleaned your spirit and made you holy. If you have been chosen by God – you are a rightueous person so god can be glorified. 7, We are not just put on this earth to muddle through life. We are more than conqueres. The spirit of God inside of us is stronger than any circumstance in our lives. God created you to be a winner! The last promise is the best. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. Read the rest of Romans God is not going to walk away from you – you don’t even have to walk away from God. In some of the toughest times in the lives of people in my congregation. I remind them of the promises of romans 8. When my sister died 2 years ago – I read Romans 8 to my family. There was a professor who gave his students a test on romans 8:28 – we know God works all things together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called together according to his purpose. He told them to remember that verse for the test. Well the test was supposed to be the next day – but the professor got into an accident. His wife was killed and he was badly injured. A month later – when the professor got out of the hospital – the students wanted to know whether Romans 8 was still true for him. Did the professor still believe it was the most important verse. Yes it is – says the professor- God is still with me. When Christ lives in our hearts – he gives us hope, Hope that everthing is gonna be okay. A young boy was suffering from an illness that would killhim. The doctor told him we was going to die. The young man burst out in tears. The doctor took away my hope. The woman listening said, if someone takes your hope – then you need to find a new one. Christ is our hope for everything. What do you do in a hopeless situation – find christ. If you are a Christian – then he is inside of you. My last story, I gotfrom one of my church members yesterday. She posted it on her facebook page. Her husband is very sick with a disease where his muscles are shutting down. An aging master grew tired of his apprentice’s complaints. One morning, he sent him to get some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master told him to mix a handful of salt in a glass of water and then drink it. “How does it taste?” the master asked. “Bitter,” said the apprentice. The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.” As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?” “Fresh,” remarked the apprentice. “Do you taste the salt?” asked the master. “No,” said the young man. At this the master sat beside this serious young man, and explained softly, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.” Bitterness when our pain is held in the world. But we should hold our pain in Christ. Christ is the lake where hope is in abundant supply! Put your hope in christ – doesn’t take our suffering away – It just makes it so much easier to deal with. Amen