Tag Archive for: Romans 8:28

The Road Paved with Redemption

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Romans 8:28 — And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

You drive on it every day, and you don’t even think about it.

You know the stretch I mean—that strip of road under your tires on the way to work, to class, or to the gym. It just looks like asphalt. Flat. Ordinary. Nothing worth noticing.

But here’s something pretty wild.

In places not far from us, like Dallas, Texas, they’re doing something different. Engineers are taking melted-down plastic—the same single-use bags and water bottles we toss without a second thought—and blending it into asphalt. Eight to ten percent of the binding agent is replaced with what most people would call trash.

In one single mile of road, they’ve used about four and a half tons of plastic waste. Four and a half tons.

That’s not aesthetic. That’s not trending. That’s not main character energy.

That’s redemption.

Here’s the crazy part.

When they mix that melted plastic in, it actually makes the road stronger. They’re more resilient in extreme heat, and better under heavy traffic.

Kind of like rebar inside concrete—reinforcing it from the inside out. So the thing that looked useless, the thing headed for a landfill, is now holding up thousands of cars every day.

And I can’t help but think… that sounds like you and me.

We’ve been labeled a lot of things. Too sensitive. Too anxious. Too distracted. Too much.

What if the very things the world calls weakness are the things God wants to use as reinforcement? The heartbreak you didn’t ask for. The anxiety you didn’t power through. The mistakes you wish you could delete—like a post from 2018. Been there.

What if that isn’t landfill material? What if, in the hands of God, it becomes structure?

What if the pressure, the heat, the plastic pieces of your story you would rather throw away are the very ingredients God is working together into something unexpectedly good—something stronger than it would have been without them? Not just the polished parts. All of it.

Maybe you needed to hear that today.

You are not waste. You are not throwaway. You are not defined by what tried to break you.

You’re being built into something sturdier than you realize. And somewhere down the road—literally and spiritually—someone else is going to travel safely because of what God reinforced in you.

 

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

  • What part of your story have you been tempted to see as “waste” instead of something God can redeem?
  • How does knowing that God can use all things—not just the good parts—change the way you view your past?
  • Where might God be strengthening you right now through pressure, hardship, or discomfort?
  • Is there a situation in your life that feels meaningless or frustrating? How could God be working through it for good?
  • Who in your life might one day benefit from the strength God is building in you right now?
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Healing Hidden in Hardship

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Romans 8:28 — And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.

November 2023 began like any other month—until one phone call changed everything.

When I answered, I found out that my husband, Chris, had been in a head-on collision. Both of his feet were broken. In an instant, life got hard. Really hard.

It was hard because you hate to see someone you love struggle. Chris is at his best when he’s serving others, and now he was the one needing help.

But he handled it with more grace than I think I would have. But even for a man of deep faith, I knew there were days when he sat in the quiet, wondering what God was doing behind the scenes.

I prayed constantly—not just for healing, but that God would use this season for something greater.

Now, two years later, praise God, Chris can walk again and is thriving.

But just a few months ago, as I was dropping off our son at daycare, I noticed his teacher, Ms. Linda, with her arm in a cast. She’s the kind of woman whose joy usually transforms a room, but that morning her face told another story.

She couldn’t pick up the babies, change them, or do any of the things that normally make her feel alive.

I knew Chris would be stopping by during his lunch break, so I prayed that God would give him the right words to encourage her.

When he called me later, I could tell the conversation had gone well. He said he shared a few doctor recommendations, but more importantly, he got to tell her he understood what it feels like to feel purposeless and to be unable to do the things you once took for granted. And he got to encourage her with the word of God.

What an answer to prayer.

And maybe that’s the thing. What if brokenness is really a bridge to healing? Did God break Chris’s feet? No. But He didn’t waste what he went through either.

Maybe the lessons God is teaching you in your darkest seasons are really meant to help light the way for others in theirs?

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Knowing God is Still Good

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“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:28

I meant well. I really did. I had spent the afternoon helping my uncle around his house—fixing small things, making conversation, just being there. It was the least I could do after everything he had been through.

As I grabbed my keys and turned to leave, I threw out a casual, “God bless you.”

Without skipping a beat, he pointed at his amputated leg and said, “I think God has blessed me enough.”

Cue the longest, most painful silence of my life.

Eventually, I muttered, “Alright, well… see ya,” and practically sprinted out the door.

The moment clung to me the rest of the day. Wow, I really got that wrong. I had no clue what my uncle actually believed about God. And yet, here I was, confidently acting like we had been having deep spiritual conversations for years.

But even though I misread the moment entirely, I could not shake the truth: God is good. Even when life does not look like it. Even when it hands you something you never would have chosen.

Maybe my uncle does not believe that right now. Maybe you are not sure either. But what if the very things that feel like the hardest parts of your story are the places where God is working the most? What if—despite everything—He is still turning broken things into something good?

Because I believe He is. And I hope one day my uncle does, too.

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