We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan. -Romans 8:28 (VOICE)

This is one of the most quoted verses from the Bible that I hear. People who push prosperity theology sometimes roll this one out as part of the documentation for their claims that simply believing will produce material prosperity here on Earth. Sometimes, it seems like they think that God is their personal butler, ready to come running when the bell rings.

I guess it depends on how one defines “something good and beautiful.” I think that what is good and beautiful is what pleases God. When He is pleased, it certainly will benefit us and bring real, lasting happiness– not like the thrill of a new car that is shiny and smells new, but quickly gets dull, rusty and smelly in a few short years before reaching its final destination in a junk yard. The value of things that please God are eternal.