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. Romans 8:28

When I think of all things working together for good I wonder how that fits into my real world of all things and remember that September 10th, 2001 my wife and I returned from visiting her family in San Francisco. We landed in Newark early in the evening and drove home, worn out and ready for bed. I slept soundly, got up and had my morning coffee and prayer time, then headed off to work with my landscaping business. About ten o’clock, as I was mowing a very large lawn of a doctor’s home, I saw his wife walking down the hill towards me, still dressed in her bathrobe. I turned off the tractor and looked up as she said, “Do you know the twin towers in New York? I just saw on the news that they fell down.”

“What? Are you sure?” I asked incredulously “That’s impossible!”

“No Peter. Believe me, it’s true. A big plane hit one building a little while ago, then another just crashed into the other one and they went down – flat to the ground.”

At this point I turned off the mower shaking my head, unable to process what she had said. As she made her way back up to the house, I went over to where my truck was parked and turned on the local news channel. I was sure she couldn’t be right about that till I heard someone say, – “A terror attack.” –

“But who? Why? How?” This Saturday twenty years will have passed and I am still wondering how all things working together for good has anything to do with our nation and our world. But Paul is clear and after his experience which included, beatings, instead of promotions and imprisonment in place of popularity, he knew a thing or two about what all things might contain. If all things were good at all times for the Christian we would be in no need of the promise. But after our greatest dreams lie in the ashes of a terror attack, a dreaded disease or the broken promises of a relationship, God still keeps His promise. He still works for the good of those who love Him. And no matter what very real circumstance you are facing dear one, remember how all things looked from the cross. After feeding five thousand, healing blind eyes, comforting the hurting and walking on water, the feet of Jesus were nailed to a cross. He had been sold out for money by someone who called himself a friend, and denied and abandoned by all but His mother and John. There Jesus was given vinegar to drink while blood from the crown of thorns coursed down over His lips. That cross was the all things Jesus took for us. Instead of working out everything for good for Himself, He worked out a plan that included Heaven for us. Yes indeed all things do work together for good and one day when we leave all things behind of this life we have a promise of a home and a place to come and sit by His side!