God works everything out?

Our reading from Ephesians this morning jumps right into the middle of this letter’s opening paragraph, a hymn of praise to God. In this praise we find an important truth about God. “He works everything out in conformity with the purpose of his will.” I find this to be quite a difficult thing to understand. How can God work everything out so that it lines up with God’s intentions? What about the five year olds sitting on the streets of Kampala, begging, that I saw a few weeks ago? What about the illnesses and struggles of life that we experience, that those around us experience? What about our families, friends, and neighbours losing their jobs and their homes? There is such a lot going on around us that, to be honest, doesn’t look much like it is being worked out in line with God’s will.

But, life was no easier in Paul’s day. He himself had suffered all kinds of things in the course of ministry. This very letter was probably written at a time when Paul was in prison. He had seen Christians killed for their faith. He was a Jew, someone whose country had been invaded and was ruled by foreigners. He also lived in a world where it didn’t look much like things were being worked out in line with God’s will. Yet still he could write that he was certain that they are.

How is this possible? Where does this depth of faith come from? Well, I think that we get the answer in the next verses. Paul talks about the Holy Spirit as the deposit that guarantees an inheritance.

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