All Things Work Together
Last week, I was lucky to watch a preview of Lecrae’s All Things Work Together tour. A few of my friends and I won a special invite to watch Lecrae rehearse his tour set in Nashville the night before the actual tour started in Memphis. This tour falls on the heels of his newest album release, All Things Work Together. Of the many messages Lecrae shared with us that evening, I want to highlight his song “8:28.”
“8:28” refers to Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
In our lives, we all run into roadblocks and pain. We face setbacks that seem to come out of nowhere, setbacks that seem unfair. They leave us wondering why we deserve this pain and hurt. Lecrae related these sufferings to food. Each bad event relates to eggs, butter, and flour. They aren’t appealing on their own; each is raw and unfinished.
Our lives are full of events that are eggs, butter, or flour:
Your boyfriend or girlfriend just dumped you.
Your parents are getting a divorce.
You lost your job.
You have a bad injury that will take months to heal.
Each event on their own is awful, but maybe not in the long run. When you put these “ingredients” under heat and add pressure, they turn into something special, like cookies. You are put in the oven of life and come out different than you entered. If you look back at bad events in your life, they often work together to make you into the person you are today. Some of these events may have even made your life better. When we go through suffering, we often see how our lives are falling apart, not how they are fitting into a bigger story.
Going into college, I would not call myself an injury-prone athlete. In two weeks, I am having my 3rd surgery in three years. During many months of not running, I went through times of frustration and misunderstanding. I didn’t understand why I had to watch my teammates run fast while I crutched around campus for months. Looking back on my crippled months/years, I learned valuable lessons. I found that my identity did not revolve around the time on the clock when I crossed the finish line. I learned patience and perspective. Although I didn’t have the opportunity to run, I grew in different aspects of my life.
Certain lessons show themselves in the future. You may not see them now, but you will look back and see how you grew as a person. The pressure of life is going to make you into a something special (like cookies).
“Keep your head to the sky. Keep your eyes on the prize.”
Be patient. Endure the heat and pressure. Keep setbacks in perspective. All things work together.
Make a sum: add to the lives of those around you, don’t take away from them.
-JP