It’s Romans 8:28, friends!
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
About 16 years ago I developed what looked like a large gash on my right calf. (Apologies to those who have heard this story. I think I may have even written on about it before, but here we are again). The skin wasn’t broken but there was an ugly red jagged line on my leg and it was quite warm to the touch. I hadn’t done anything to my calf and was flummoxed as to what in the world had happened. My calf got more painful and I finally saw the physician’s assistant at my doctor’s office about it, as it hurt to walk. She diagnosed it as a subcutaneous infection and prescribed antibiotics.
A couple of days later, the pain in my calf has not gone away and out of the blue, I passed out at work. I saw the PA the next day and pointed out a bulge in my upper thigh near my groin. Both she and the doctor sent me to the hospital to be hooked up to stronger antibiotics and to have a Doppler (basically like a detailed ultrasound of the veins in my leg). While in the hospital, my chest started hurting, and my heart pounded when I walked from my bed to the bathroom. I alerted the hospitalist who put a heart monitor on me. Heart readings were fine. I was released 23 hours after I’d been admitted.
A couple of days later while at Troy’s soccer game, I passed out twice and was rushed to the same hospital. It turns out that I had developed a deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), some of which had broken off and traveled to my lungs, resulting in pulmonary emboli (PE). I was given mega doses of clot-busting medicine, and was in ICU for three days and in a regular hospital room for another week. I had a cardiologist, pulmonologist, and hematologist watching over me. Having never been hospitalized except for a couple of days for the births of my sons, it was quite an experience.
The doctors were able to determine that I had a genetic mutation that predisposed me to blood clots, and the birth control pills I had been on up until that time apparently had triggered the DVT. Because it was genetic, the hematologist advised both my dad and my sister to get tested. While my dad tested negative, my sister tested positive for the same genetic mutation I had. We had some insight! You see, not too far long before all of this had happened, my sister had suffered a couple of miscarriages. I cried with her and comforted her when they happened. I had not experienced one myself, and had no explanation. But now that she had been tested for this odd mutation, she was able to work with a high-risk obstetrician when she got pregnant again, and I am the proud aunt of two wonderful nephews!
This is one of my real-life, personalized examples of the promise of Romans 8:28 coming to life. Had I not experienced the life-threatening condition I had, how many more miscarriages would my sister have gone through? I would gladly go through something like that again to have spared her additional pain and suffering.
Friends, I know some of you may be wondering why I’m sharing this story again. It’s just that in all of the chaos and challenges the year 2020 has thrown at us all, I want us to keep in mind the perspective of Romans 8:28 during this pandemic:
· Although we had talked about and probably planned for livestreaming our services at some point in the year, look how quickly we were able to make it happen and help connect the Stone Oak Church body.
· I now take part in a weekly Zoom meeting with three to five other ladies of different ages and races, and at different spots on their spiritual walk. We connected through the Walk to Emmaus and hold each other accountable for commitments, all the while lifting each other up, laughing, and praising God for having brought us together. We have committed to continuing to Zoom even if/when things return to “normal”. We did not do this before the pandemic.
· The Zoom meeting started when one of the ladies wanted to have a real dialogue after the George Floyd murder and protests. That whole issue in and of itself enabled an open sharing of hurts and perspectives.
· My husband was laid off from his civil engineering job back at the end of March for four months because of the lockdown and economic impact of COVID. He has since started at a new company, and told me just the other day that he realized that he just never seemed to be the right fit for his old company. He worked a tremendous number of hours for them, was always stressed, and seemed to be caught in a power play between two of the leaders at the firm. Had the layoff not happened, he wouldn’t be at his new company now, loving every minute there.
· We were blessed that Pastor Ray’s PSC orders were delayed by at least what—four months or so?—and that he was able to remain home with his family (and his church family to a lesser degree) during that time.
I’m not saying what we’re going through isn’t without its challenges—it is. For some of us, this pandemic with its restrictions and life-changing burdens has resulted in the loss of family members and friends, severely reduced (or eliminated) visitation with ailing or elderly family, increased stress levels in having to be both parent and teacher to school-aged children, and the list goes on. I am not discounting these challenges or trying to gloss over them euphemistically. But if we cling to the promise that is in His inspired word in Romans 8:28, we know that the Lord will work things for good for those (us) who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
It bears noting that sometimes that good may not always be evident or revealed to us this side of heaven, and we must be okay with that. I am also of the opinion and understanding that the “us” who will benefit from these good workings may be the corporate “us”. Hear me out—if tragedy strikes a family and it results in a grief-stricken not-yet-believing family member seeking God in the thick of it—isn’t that good? If a challenging medical diagnosis for one person causes a team of people to intercede in prayer for him or her, causing faith to grow and spiritual disciple to sprout in the pray-ers, isn’t that good?
May we seek to embody the hope and promise of Romans 8:28.
Prayer Requests
Praise for Steve Kale’s successful heart surgery and recovery
For those physically, emotionally, financially or otherwise impacted by this pandemic
Praise for Mark Hardison’s negative bone biopsy!
For our nation now and in the weeks leading up to the election
For us to pray as Paul exhorts us to in Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people
Dear ones, I pray that you would have eyes to see the love that is in Romans 8:28. Words are not adequate to describe the love the Father has for His children. I will, however, use Paul’s from just a few verses after Romans 8:28:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Quotes
“Job never saw why he suffered, but he saw God, and that was enough.” –Tim Keller
“My faith rests not in what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what he has done, and in what he is doing for me.” -- Charles Spurgeon