When our son was in high school, he came to see me one day feeling very concerned. He had been selected to participate in the young actors ensemble at the Renaissance Festival near our home in Maryland, and had been informed that there would be a week of mandatory rehearsals over the summer, with specific dates yet to be announced. His concern stemmed from the fact that he and my husband had plans to attend a special two-week outing with the Boy Scouts in July. The event had been on the calendar for months, and they both were really looking forward to this hiking and camping experience. My son was very worried that his mandatory rehearsal would coincide with his Scouting adventure, thus forcing him to choose one over the other.
My first response was to share one of my favorite Bible verses from Romans, which says, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (8:28). With my son’s youthful trust, he happily accepted this Biblical message and went on his way. However, as I started thinking more deeply about what I had just shared, I realized that I’d always been a little uncomfortable with this Bible verse. It seemed a bit exclusive to me. After all, I asked myself, who are “the called”? Are they the Christians? The Christian Scientists? Anyone who goes to church? All “nice” people? As I turned to God with this earnest question, this is the answer that came to me. Any time someone is motivated by a desire to glorify God or to bless His children, then in that instance they are “the called according to his purpose,” and they can expect that all things will “work together for good.”
It seemed clear that my son’s motives were in line with these ideas in wanting to participate in both activities, and as it turned out, he got home from his hiking trip about 12 hours before the first of his required rehearsals began.
