What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?] He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things? Romans 8:31-32 [AMP]
I have always rested on this passage as reinforcement for dwelling on what God has for me in eternity versus what pain and suffering, I am enduring here on earth…but it is so much more than that. Today it is far more about the ‘here and now’ for me than a ‘Hope’ in eternity to come.
As I have also been studying up and listening to what the Lord has to say about Spiritual Warfare, this is where these verses come into play the most. When Paul asks the rhetorical question “If God is for us, who can be against us?”; my answer is “Paul, there is no shortage of enemies who have risen up against me. The world is rising up against me and what I believe. Even my employer threatens my livelihood for what believe. There are cosmic arch-enemies deployed to strike down Christ’s followers.” Those of us who follow Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, however, need not fear them. When Elisha’s ministering servant quivered in terror at the sight of the Syrian army surrounding them, the prophet responded, ‘Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him; for there is one greater with us than with him’ (2 Chr. 32:7).
This is the perspective I need to walk through life with….its a confidence like Elisha had ‘knowing’ that his God would ensure His own will and purposes would come to pass…will and purposes Elisha and his servant where a part of. My focus has to be to stay in God’s will and purposes. How do I do that??? I am doing it right now, dwelling and meditating on His word and communing with Him daily/hourly in my spirit.
A lot of people mis-apply the ‘All things in verse 32. ‘All things’ refers to ‘all that is necessary for our salvation’ and our glorification (8:30). We should not connect ‘all things’ to so-called material blessings. In the context, ‘all things’ refers to what God has done “for us” in the present because of what he has already done “for us all” through the work of Christ in the past.
Application:
I need to walk forward in my faith without fear of the world, only in reverent fear of the Lord. The ‘all [other] things’ in my life have already been given in the saving grace of my Lord Jesus Christ. My worldly focused existence stopped when I committed to and surrendered to following Jesus the rest of my life. Now my focus is “How can I learn as much about God as possible and then through faith in Him, do the work of building the Kingdom I will enjoy for all eternity.”