In All Things

[HKHaugan]

In All Things

“And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Rom.8:28).”

It is vitally important that we grab hold of this idea of 'all things.' This is a spiritual statement that intrudes upon our self-centeredness with exacting force, like it or not. Every single moment of our lives is known to God and those moments hold the 'things' Paul mentions. Each of us is a compilation of choices and decisions, attitudes and behaviors that are the 'things' he is talking about. They are, for the most part, the forgotten pieces of our past that have shaped each of us. Our memories, both good and bad, are a mere fragment of our total experience. The very bodies in which we dwell are 'things.' they are made up of cells too numerous to count yet each affecting the whole. Their dynamic physicality pulsates and harbors our spiritual mind, heart and spirit; an immense collaboration of intricacy designed to operate with one spiritual purpose, to glorify the Creator. Not that He needs to be glorified. No, we are built to share and reflect, as His image, the depth of personal love and grace He is. That's why the 'all things' Paul points to are so inclusive. We are far more than we could ever realize. That's how He made us to be like Him. So in all things God works for our good. That includes even the bad things because we learn from them. As we begin adjusting our mind, heart and spirit to Him He restores His intimacy with us. From there true intimacy begins and the 'things' find their home in Him. We are in His place, His presence, His world, His Kingdom.

“From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth: and He determines the times set for them and the exact place where they should live (Acts 17:26).” Note the time and place. It's our personally appointed time and place, the context of our daily being. He has provided the resources for being spiritually set in a physical environment. He has given us belief for the mind, trust for the heart and faith for our spirit. What springs from these are the 'things', the 'all things', we are from one moment to the next. There is nothing we think or do as individuals that He is not conscious of. When those three work in harmony with Him, that is, we believe He exists, we trust in His presence and allow His Spirit to motivate us. Then the 'things' of our lives are grounded in His motion. God is always on the move and that is His calling to us, “Be on the move.” We see that clearly in Jesus who was always on the move.

Because of our sinful nature we are impeded by fear, trying to fit in to the attitudes and opinions of others leading to our self-conscious responses. Most of what we do is based on how we choose to respond to present situations. We are momentary people living in a momentary atmosphere in our momentary consciousness. The world in which we live is a world made up of momentary responses for social survival. Our desires and needs are fixed on making it through every next moment. That's how sin gets us to live. Fixating about who we are, where we came from, the parents we had, the schools we attended, people we've met, things we've done, leads nowhere. All of that in every second of life may make up the context of what we are in any one moment but not who we are designed to be. They are the stuff shaping our social identity but not spiritual identity. It is into this mix we find God calling to us to be like Him. Without Him there is neither reason nor purpose in any moment other than its survival.

Therefore, our goal is to become like Him in every next moment. Jesus is the exact likeness of God and His humanity is our guideline to likeness, to be like Him. What a relationship with Him does is to rearrange our priorities to fit into Him. The living Jesus draws us to take hold of our mind and place it in the Scripture where the mind of God is found. That's what He did. 'All things' are dealt with in its pages.

Scripture study is like going to a tailor and having a suit fitted to you. The tailor measures every area from head to foot. As he fits you he checks your movements to make sure every part fits properly. A real tailor knows that every person is unique and therefore in need of being correctly fitted according to that uniqueness. What all this is saying is that Jesus knows each of us individually and is fitting us for His Kingdom. Scripture is His measuring tape. Remember the parable of the improperly dressed invitee at a king's banquet? He was ordered out of the banquet. It was a relational teaching. It is His invitation that takes precedence. What the parable intends is to confront us with our casual attitude when it comes to God. How we approach a relationship with God is to be dressed with humility, respect, repentance and obedience. It's to be tuned, alert and ready to serve. We may come to church dressed in casual clothes but our hearts need to come dressed with an attitude of praise and thanksgiving. Worship gatherings are a time to arrive expectantly, not to get something, be entertained, see friends, be religious. It's time to meet with others and share praise, gratitude and self offering for God's eternal intimacy. Worship is entering the Kingdom of God. That's where 'all things' start.

The reality of 'all things' is that they don't happen all at once. They are the content of what challenges us in every next moment. The readiness to meet them in faith is the key to knowing the Lord is there in that moment. That moment with its content is one of the 'all' that only faith can direct to its proper conclusion. The Scripture brings us the Lord's guarantee that the 'all' is revealed as we meet each day. The 'all' is what awaits us one moment, one event, one occasion, one meeting at a time. The 'all things' is the sum total of our human experience. That experience is first spiritual and when seen in that perspective every piece works for our good personally and relationally because the Holy Spirit is directing the traffic. When we meet every next 'thing' in the Spirit we are fulfilling God's purpose for each of us (Eph.2:10).