The title of this objection is a misquotation of Romans 8:28. Did you notice that? The verse actually says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." This verse does not say what almost everyone thinks it says. It does not say that God purposefully works bad things for our good. It says nothing at all about bad things. Read the verse! Do you see anything there about bad things such as sickness? NO. That is what someone read into the verse and everyone jumped on the bandwagon and said that this verse is talking about tragedies. Instead, this is a definite statement that things work together for good for us. There is no mention that these "things" include sickness and other attacks. What is really said here is that all things will work for you, not against you, if you are serving God.


God is not using your sickness for good. Satan is using it for bad.

It is true that God can turn around bad things for good, even though that is not the subject of Romans 8:28. But that does not mean that God deliberately uses bad things for your good as part of his plan. God will simply turn things around for his glory even if the things were not from him to begin with. This is what he did with Joseph. He was thrown in a pit and sold into slavery, his death faked by his brothers. God used that for good. Was it good? No. Potiphar's wife framed Joseph. God used that for good. Was it good? No. Joseph was in jail and someone who was supposed to help him forgot him. That wasn't good, either, but Joseph ended up delivering his family and being second in command in Egypt next to Pharaoh. The path of Joseph's life led to power in Egypt and the salvation of Israel, but that does not mean that the things that happened were good. It means that God brought good out of it.


I've heard the stories about people who went to the hospital and witnessed to someone. (There's a whole objection reply devoted to that one.) It doesn't mean that sickness was good or from God; it just means that God took something bad and made some good come out of it.

The objection can be extended to say that sickness is covered here because verse 26 says that the Spirit helps our infirmities and we groan. But if you insist on interpreting "infirmities" as illnesses, you have just come up with another good proof text for divine healing! It says that the Spirit helps our infirmities, not that he gives us our infirmities. Actually, the word helps means take hold together with against. He helps us get rid of them. The groaning is a spiritual thing having to do with intercession. To say otherwise does violence to the meaning of the verse: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself [himself] maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Really, in context, this verse is about the Holy Spirit helping us pray and certainly has nothing to do with God wanting us sick. Therefore, to claim sickness as a context for verse 28 is ludicrous.


Then, consider verse 29, where Paul says that we were predestined to be conformed to Christ's image. Jesus Christ was not sick, so sickness cannot conform you to his image. The "for" at the beginning of the verse makes it a continuation of verse 28, so it makes no sense to claim that verse 28 could be talking about sickness.

Now let me ask you something. Do you honestly believe that dying prematurely in horrible agony can possibly be an example of all things working to your good? No way. This is an example of all things working to your bad. This is an example of not getting the victory in this life. This is an example of things not working out to your good as far as this world is concerned. Of course, not even sickness can rob the Christian of his ultimate victory over sickness. Every sick Christian will be completely healed when he dies and will never get sick again! People in heaven do not get sick. People with redeemed bodies on the new earth will be sickness-proof! If you're a Christian, you win ultimately. However, you do not have to lose in this life. You are to triumph in Christ and be always led in victory. Dying in terrible pain does not represent victory in this life. You get the final victory; you end up where the devil can't touch you and sickness can't touch you. You'll never suffer again. But you lived beneath your privileges in this life.


Someone once cited Romans 8:28 as a proof text that terminal illness can be a gift from God. I kid you not. If dying prematurely is your idea of things working together for good, perhaps you should refer to the section on mental illness for help. No one but a religiously brainwashed Christian would ever consider it good to be taken from this world early, unable to do any further work for the Master. (Actually, there is one other class of person that would say that this is good -- the devil and his demons!)

Yes, God can bring good out of bad things. He can bring good out of your sickness. But that proves absolutely nothing. It certainly does not prove that it was the will of God for you to be sick in the first place or that the sickness was in any way part of his plan for you.