Have you ever been speechless?  Confronted with such knowledge, wisdom, and truth, that there is absolutely nothing that your mind can think of to say in response.  Or maybe you’ve been in the presence of such foolishness, ignorance, and lies that there is nothing that you can think of saying that would be profitable to anyone.  For many, being speechless is a rare thing.  We have a response for everything.  We must have the last word, so we’ll say something — anything at all, really.  Just don’t let me get caught without an answer.

Paul gives us one of those statements of knowledge, wisdom and truth as he writes in Romans 8:28-30:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” 

What depth of truth!  No wonder Paul raises the question in verse 31, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things?”  What can you say in response to a Sovereign, Almighty God who conforms, calls, justifies, and glorifies according to his incredible knowledge — a foreknowledge that knows what was, what is, and what will be in your life and mine more clearly than we know our self this moment.  Because of what God knows about those whom He has already seen that choose to pursue Him in obedient trust, God can state that He works to the good in all things for those who have been predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.  He can do this because He knows in advance what our choice about Him will be.

And so Paul asks, if this is the kind of God we serve, what can we say?  “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  I’ve always looked at this thirty-first verse of Romans eight and thought, “That’s an easy question.  No one, of course!”  Yet there is one, isn’t there?  If God is for me, who can be against me?  Me!  The Bible teaches that God allows me to choose my master.  God has chosen to limit His sovereign, almighty nature by giving mankind choices — free-will to do either right or wrong.  The decision is ours to accept or reject the very grace and mercy that defines God’s love for us. 

The part that is so hard for me (and you?) to fathom is that God knew every day of my life before I was even born.  He knew how I would respond to the missionary speaker at The Country Church calling for people to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus.  He knew the times I would drift and wander — both away from Him and back toward Him.  He even knows if I’m finally back in submissive obedience to Him for the rest of my life or if there are still periods of wandering yet to be lived.  I choose. 

I choose to be done with wandering.  I choose Jesus as my Sovereign, Almighty Lord.  Because God knows I choose, He is faithful and just and will conform me to the image of His Son — calling me, justifying me, and glorifying me as He brings me to maturity in Christ.  What, then, shall I say?  If God is for me, who can be against me?  No one!  Because I choose Him, no one can be against me and win.