Romans 8:28: “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.”
You can’t be a Christian very long before you are introduced to this verse. Whenever a tragedy happens you can always count on someone saying: “Well, we know all things work together for good.” Well, that is a comfort in a certain context; in others it is very irritating if not downright cruel. When Jesus saw all the sadness over the death of Lazarus he didn’t say, “Well, just remember all things work together for good.” The Bible says he wept. Even when he tried to offer comfort by saying that Lazarus was just sleeping people mocked Him, not knowing what He was about to do. In the Aramaic this word used for weeping is demetha which is a weeping for the suffering of someone other than yourself.
Sometimes Romans 8:28 is just something we quote not because we really believe it but because we don’t know what else to say and what can be more spiritual than to quote a Scripture passage. This could really be irritating in the sense that many times a situation does not work out for good or what we perceive as good. In fact does anyone really know what good is? For that matter how do you know that your tragic circumstance falls under this idea of things. Sure all things work together for good, but can you classify the circumstances as a thing? I have a friend who just suffered a loss that has broken her heart. Is that a thing?
I think we need to sit back and examine three very important words in this verse and maybe not be so quick to jump to a conclusion. The first word is things. That word is not found in the Greek text, it is simply panta from the root word pas which simply means everything. So everything works together for good. In the Aramaic it is ba’kal which is again just like the Greek, everything. Everything means everything. Everything works together. The words work together comes from the Greek word synergei. It is, of course, where we get the word synergy from which means the interaction of two or more agents to produce a combined effect. So everything works together to produce a combined effect a certain outcome which is good. I will get back to that word good in a moment. However, Paul’s native language was Aramaic, He spoke it fluently and thought in Aramaic. I think he had the word that the Aramaic Bible uses in mind for working together. It is the word ‘edar, which comes from a Canaanite word which was used in building. I was really struggling to see how this fit this verse. It has the idea of cutting stone and trying to match that stone to the building. Unlike today where bricks are all the same size and shape in ancient times such precision was a little hard to come by, especially if you are using stones to build. You had to choose the right stones to support that other stones. I was not sure how that would fit until I discussed it with a friend I met yesterday who suggest that possibly it could mean the pieces to a puzzle. That is exactly the modern word I was looking for to express ‘edar. I take such things as confirmation from God that I am on the right track, you can take it anyway you want. But I believe what Paul was saying that everything, every event in our life is a piece to a puzzle that God is carefully crafting for His good.
Now I have discussed this word good tov many times and it means exactly the same in Aramaic tova as it does in Hebrew. Good is to be in harmony with something or someone. God created the fish of the sea, saw it was good or in harmony with Him. He created man and woman and saw they were good together or together are in harmony with Him. If a man finds a wife he finds a good thing. I hate that translation. I tend to think a woman, especially a wife is not a thing. I would rather translate it as a man who finds a wife finds someone who brings him into harmony with God. Thus I believe what Paul is saying is that every event in our life is meant to bring us into harmony with God.
My friend also quickly pointed out that there is a condition, you must do all this out of a love for God and in the performance of His service. If we love God with all our hearts, if we are focused on performing his service then everything, every problem, every disappointment and heartbreak will be an ‘edar, a piece to the puzzle to bring us into harmony with God.
Many times I sincerely believe I am serving God and perform some service out of pure love for God and I end up making a complete idiot of myself, total embarrassment. I am sure you never had that happen to you, but it happens to me on a regular basis, so this verse is very important to me because I know when I step out to share the love of Jesus with someone who just makes me look like a fool and I say to myself over and over, “Dumb, dumb, dummy is a Chaim, Chaim is a dummy.” I can rest in the fact I did it out of love for the God I love and to serve Him so as a result even my foolhardiness will become a piece of His puzzle that He will use to bring me into harmony tova with Him.
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