Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People (Romans 8:28-30) – Ben Hicks – Fanning the Flame

Text: Romans 8:28-30
Thesis: Trust God’s plan for your life.

I’d like to start off this morning by asking a very common question: why do bad things happen to good people? Now, from a Christian perspective, this has a very simple answer, no one is good. Paul tells us earlier in Romans that there is none that doeth good, there is none that seeketh after God. But, what if I tweaked that question slightly and instead I asked, “Why do bad things happen to God’s children?”

Let’s be honest, life is hard. And as unfair as it may seem, life is hard whether you’re a believer or an unbeliever. Many children of God have stepped back and looked at the pain of life and wondered where God is during the times of great suffering. Where is God when life falls apart? Where is God in the midst of abuse? Where is God in suffering? And why is He letting all this happen?

To answer this question, we are going to look at Romans 8:28-30. And we’re going to see that even during times of great suffering we should trust God because He has a plan for our lives.

Verse 28 reads, “And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, them he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

So we see here in this passage that God does have a plan. For the Christian, there is no such thing as random, God is sovereign and God is working all things together. And this morning I would like to make the case that we should trust God and His plan, even when life gets really really hard. There are three reasons in this passage why we should trust God’s plan. First of all, it is a good plan. Secondly, it is a purposeful plan. And finally, it is a certain plan.  Let’s look at each of these individually. First of all, we see that

I.              We should trust God because He has a good plan for our lives.

Explanation: In verse 28 we see clearly that God’s plan for our lives is good. Now, it is important to note that this passage does not say all things are good. And that is an important distinction to make. God does allow bad things to happen. But, what this verse does say is that God is so powerful and so good that he can take the bad things and turn them around and bring good out of them.

Argumentation: And we would expect this to be the case, because everywhere the Bible teaches that God is good. James 1:17 tells us that every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.” In Matthew 7:11 Christ asks, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to you children, how much more will your father which is in heaven give good gifts to them that ask?”

Illustration: Probably the clearest illustration of this in all the Bible is Joseph. Even though he was abused, wronged, and betrayed by those around him, Joseph never got bitter. What kept him so positive and godly during times of great trial? What allowed him to so freely forgive his brothers after the way they wronged him? Well, Genesis 50:20 tells us. “But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good.” Joseph was able to look past the bad circumstances of his life and see that a good God was in control and that God was able to take what had happened in Joseph’s life and use it for good.

Application: What does this mean for us? Well, if God is always good, then you must trust Him no matter what. That means when you lose someone close to you, God is still good and you must still trust Him. When you fail English 102, again, God is still good, and you must still trust Him.  When your finances run out and you don’t know where the money you need could ever come from, God is still good and you must still trust Him.

Transition: But how does this work? How in the world does God take the rotten things of this life and use them for our good? That leads us to our second point, where we see in verse 29 that . . .

II.            We should trust God because He has a purposeful plan for our lives.

Explanation: Let me explain. God has something very definite in His mind when He says “good.” And it all comes down to that first word of verse 29 – for. That word shows us that Paul is going to give the reason why everything works together for good. All things work together for good because “whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.” In other words, the good in verse 28 is referring to Christlikeness.

You see God has a very different definition of good than we do. When most of us think of good we think of a full bank account, straight A’s, and marriage. But that is not what God is thinking of when He says good.  God’s definition of good is that you walk and talk and act and behave like Jesus Christ. We call this process sanctification, where we are conformed to the image of Christ.

Illustration: There’s a classic illustration of this, which means that it probably never happened. But it does illustrate the point very well. The story is told an admirer of the famous statue David who suddenly realized that its sculptor, Michelangelo, was standing right next to him. “How in the world did you manage to craft such a wonderful and realistic David?” the bystander asked. Michelangelo shrugged his shoulders and answered, “It was actually easy I guess. I just started with a large block of marble, and then I chipped away everything that didn’t look like David.”

In much the same way, God looks at our lives, and He wants to see His Son, but He sees things that don’t belong. He sees hidden pride, he sees sinful thoughts and habits and unbelief. So He picks up His chisel, and He picks up the hammer of life, and He begins to wear away at the rough edges. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes the blow of His hammer takes off a little more than we would like. But we can rest assured that every single circumstance in our lives is lovingly calculated by a wise master craftsman to be for our absolute best.

God doesn’t waste pain. He has a purpose in every pitfall along the way.

Argument: Some of you may be thinking right now, “But wouldn’t it be easier to just have smooth sailing through life? Why do we have to go through the pain for Christlikeness? How is that good?” Well, you need to understand that God created us to find true joy in being obedient to Him. No amount of ease or luxury will ever take away the need placed inside all of us to reflect our Maker. Christ said it this way, “These things [referring back to His commands] These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” True joy is found in being like Christ.

Transition: So we have seen that God has a good plan and purposeful plan, but maybe you’re asking yourself, Ben what if it just gets to be too hard? What if I don’t make it? And that leads us to our final point.

III.          We should trust God because He has a certain plan for our lives.

Explanation: As we wrap up this passage, I think it’s important to note the final verse. Paul has assured us that God is in control and that He is good. He has also reminded us that God has a purpose for everything He brings into our lives. Now He gives us assurance that this plan of God will succeed.

Romans 8:29 and 30 have caused no end of debate in theology. I think in some ways that’s too bad, because I don’t think that’s why Paul gave us this section of Scripture. Look at the context. Romans 8 is all about the comfort of the believer. It starts with “There is now no condemnation to them that ar e in Christ Jesus” and ends with “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?”

So how do these verses comfort us? Because we realize that God is the One Who is accomplishing these things. It is not up to us to get ourselves saved, and it is not up to us to sanctify ourselves. God is the One Who is ultimately behind both. Look at the process going on here and pay special attention to the verbs. “For whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate, he did call, he did justify, he did glorify.” The subject of every one of those verbs is God.

Now, this does not take away our responsibility before God. I am not suggesting that you “Let go and let God.” But I am saying that the confidence we have in any change in our lives should be rooted in the fact that God is sovereign, and He is the One Who is working in us.

Paul said it this way in I Thessalonians 5:23-24, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” And in Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Conclusion:
I’m reading through Job in my Bible reading right now. Job had a really hard life, and he had a lot of questions for God. And Job demanded that God give him answers. But God didn’t, which is a little surprising, because we know from the story that God had good answers. Instead, God shows up and for four chapters He simply reminds Job Who He is. I know some of you are going through tough times, but I don’t know every situation. And I don’t need to, because I know from Romans 8:28-30 that God is a powerful, sovereign God with a plan. And I know that plan is good, and that plan is purposeful, and that plan is certain. And you can trust God’s plan for your life, even when times gets hard.