It is most assuredly true that "All things work together for Good to them that love God." (Rom. 8:28).
To fulfill this scripture and prove one's love, is quite different from quoting it in words, then denying its truth by brooding over all the evils and misfortunes you have been subjected to. Neither can it be fulfilled by those who weep in self-pity, nor whimper in dismay, over every trivial discomfort.
This scripture can be proved and fulfilled when it is put to the full test. It has to reach beyond words and superficial, sanctimonious self-righteousness. It has to reach beyond the services that one renders in the lime-light of the temple pinnacle to be seen of men.
This love for God that is required, is not something that can be proved in declarations nor even in spell-binding sermons uttered from the "housetops." Love is a power that must go out from the heart. It must be felt and comprehended as it is released in vibrations of glorious, singing aliveness.
To prove this scripture it is necessary to love God with a devotion that exceeds the little, mortal self. This love requires that one trust God implicitly. This deep, wondrous, living love provides one with the willingness to go through any testing, any vicissitude, any difficulty, no matter how seemingly impossible, with an inner song of love and praise -- and gratitude.
Impossible?
Not at all.
If you really do love God, then it is quite easy to accept seeming afflictions in His Name, and praise and worship Him with increased power while doing so. As one faces and accepts his problems and set-backs in this manner, even the most dire tragedies are transformed into blessings.
It may be that you are seeking some coveted public office, or some high appointment, or have your heart set on some business advancement, only to find all your hopes tumbling into ruins around you. Not only may it appear that all your labors are lost but that your chances are forever shattered.
Or it may be the loss of a loved one has completely overwhelmed you with devastating despair. But remember this, when you grieve too long and too hard for the loss or departure of a beloved one, you are not mourning for them but for yourself. You are weeping over your own loss and loneliness and not for the departed one. They would not return if they could. And if you will think clearly, without considering your own viewpoint, neither would you recall them. If they are worthy of so great a love as yours, then you may be sure God esteems that worth and all is well!
It may be that your trusted partner failed you, he who had been a life-long friend. Yes, your loss or sorrow or difficulty could include any heartbreak or tragedy possible to imagine, for there is no adverse condition or seeming disaster that could not be included in this list of misfortunes. And everyone on the earth has faced one or more of them during his sojourn here in mortality. Some have even lived through all of them -- and more! Along with every misfortune possible, their own lives have hung in the balance, while their worldly possessions were rent from their grasp and their very honor became besmirched and smeared with ridicule.
But if one's love is strong enough, he will be given the power to rise above the misfortunes, for he will be able to ride upon the storm. No matter what seeming disaster may strike, as it heaps up its distresses, suffering or humiliation, it can work together for one's good if he will work with it to fulfill the law and so prove his love. It is one's own vicissitudes that hold the power of his mastery. When one becomes the master of his own reactions to outside conditions, he may be sure he is very near to the kingdom of heaven.
Remember that Christ was crucified and in that crucifixion was exalted -- and His labors also. And the very world itself was lifted into a higher state of existence.
In your own crucifixion and disappointments and seeming setbacks are held the stepping-stones of your own glorious progress and divine exaltation.
You may be thrown flat upon your face as it is ground down into the mud. You may be dishonored and reviled. You may be hungry and cold and in dire want, or worse; you may see your loved ones suffering from lack.
Your plans may all crumble into dust around you, but, in your hands and within your heart lies the power to turn the adverse conditions into good. If you keep your thoughts high and your vision "single to the glory of God" you will prove your love and the truth of His words will be established and fulfilled in you. You alone have the power to prove and fulfill them, that you might KNOW of their truth. And within you is the power to prove and fulfill His every promise.
If in your distresses and disappointments you accept His Divine Will as your only law, then His holy Will will begin to operate for your good. And for every loss there will be a greater gain, like Job of old, who received double for every loss, increased joy for every sorrow, higher honors for every humiliation.
In God's will is held only your own perfection. And as you learn the pure obedience, through your sufferings and disappointments, you will be enfolded in the glory of your own advancement and your own complete fulfilment. Then nothing that is adverse or evil will have the power to remain permanently against you. In this law all disasters are transmuted into blessings. Beyond the dismays and disappointments of misfortune is the power of transmutation. But you are the one who must put this ineffable power to use. You must be-live and so fulfill its promises.
"All things work together for good to them that love God."
Love, when fully expressed, holds no fears, no resentments, no self-pitying sorrow. Love holds within its divine essence the power to transmute or exalt any condition, regardless of what it is. And when one is filled with this exalted love, there is no evil that can stand in adversity against him. The evil is converted and transformed into good as its powers are utilized and turned into dynamic strength.
"All things work together for good to them that love God."
"All things" means every adverse condition, every loss, every seeming tragedy or set-back, every failure and disappointment as well as every joy. As one proves his love by giving praise to God, instead of smoldering resentments and muttered condemnations, every condition will be worked out for a blessing to him for his own divine fulfilment. As one believes in the law, to the extent that he fulfills it, he soon learns of its unspeakable, dynamic powers. He KNOWS the truth of the promise and becomes free from the old bondage of misfortunes. His very knowledge of their truth is power unlimited.
"Gratitude" or the "great-attitude" holds the power of multiplication and of supply. Love itself fills one with the great gratitude as he gives silent thanks and praise in a devotion of melting, healing love. And that released gratitude, sent out on the wings of love, multiplies every blessing a hundred-fold; yea, more! It increases the little into plenty until there is not room enough to receive the supply. Man himself becomes the sacred cruse through which the oil of abundance is poured out.
Love is the transformer for it contains the complete power of transmutation. Love and gratitude and praise are the divine ingredients that transform all evils and misfortunes into joys and all sorrows in to blessings. Love has the power to exalt every storm of adversity, every condition of dismay and every heart-rending tragedy into divine, eternal good. All sorrows and misfortunes can be lifted into beauty and be transformed into loveliness as man himself is exalted above the conditions by his own released love and gratitude.
In fulfilling the great love one is himself translated from a mediocre mortal into a being of power and vision and fulfilment. Against such no condition or force can stand in adversity. And all things work together for the good of him for he loves God so greatly there can be no bitterness nor resentments in him. And he becomes a son of Light, for "He who is thankful in all things shall be made glorious."
As only praise and thanks fill the soul, through the power of selective thinking, one becomes all that is wonderful and gracious and beautiful. Such a one fulfills the law of his own being and the higher law of divinity. Such a one is exalted from mortality and translated into a higher condition of existence --even immortality.
The law is your own to fulfill. And God bless you!