All Things Work Together

Romans 8:28 reads, "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". This verse comes in the context of a section of scripture that explains that life is not always easy but, for the Christ-follower, it is always purposeful- that we may be "conformed to the image of His Son" (verse 29). However, we may not always understand the purpose until some time later.

In August 2007, when our son Turner was just two months old, he had to have double hernia repair surgery. When we were told that surgery would be necessary, we began to do some research. We learned this was a fairly standard procedure, not completely uncommon in infant boys. "They do them all the time", one friend offered. What we learned is that hernia repair surgery is considered a minor procedure, except that it's a MAJOR procedure when it's your own child. We were blessed in that Turner's surgery went very well and he has had no other hernia troubles.

Yesterday morning, I went to Children's Hospital to visit a little girl in our church who was heading into surgery. As I stood over her bed, my mind raced back to 20 months ago when Turner had his surgery. In that moment, I realized that part of what God wanted to teach me during Turner's surgery (to completely trust Him) allowed me to help the girl and her family. I was able to tell the girl and her parents about how the surgery staff wears funny hats, how they take good care of you, how much God loves us and how positive our experience at Children's had been. And I realized that all things really do work together.

While I would have preferred that Turner would have never needed surgery, God used that experience in the life of our family to allow me to better comfort a sick little girl. And to represent Him, in His image. He is always at work.