The growth we gain from waiting on God is often greater than the answer or result we desire.

等候上帝比祷告蒙应允更有助于灵命成长。

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

我们晓得万事都互相效力，叫爱上帝的人得益处，就是按祂旨意被召的人。-罗马书8章28节

My wife makes an amazing pot roast dinner. She takes raw meat, along with raw sliced white and sweet potatoes, celery, mushrooms, carrots, and onions and throws them into the slow cooker. Six or seven hours later the aroma fills the house, and the first taste is a delight. It is always to my advantage to wait until the ingredients in the slow cooker work together to achieve something they could not achieve individually.

我的妻子做的炖肉十分美味。她把肉、马铃薯、地瓜、芹菜、蘑菇、胡萝卜和洋葱切块，一起放进慢炖锅中。六、七个小时之后，整个房子香气四溢，让人不由得食指大动。唯有耐心等待，让慢炖锅中所有的食物互相融合，才能创造出这单一食材无法达到的美味。

When Paul used the phrase “work together” in the context of suffering, he used the word from which we get our word synergy. He wrote, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). He wanted the Romans to know that God, who didn’t cause their suffering, would cause all their circumstances to cooperate with His divine plan—for their ultimate good. The good to which Paul referred was not the temporal blessings of health, wealth, admiration, or success, but being “conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” (v. 29).

保罗在遭受苦难的景况中，使用“互相效力”这个词语，意思是相辅相成。他说：“我们晓得万事都互相效力，叫爱上帝的人得益处，就是按祂旨意被召的人”（罗马书8章28节）。保罗要罗马的信徒知道，上帝并非要让他们受苦，但祂会让每一件事与祂神圣的计划交互作用、相辅相成，让他们得到益处。保罗在这里提到的“益处”，并不是指世上短暂的健康、财富、受人景仰或功成名就，而是“效法祂儿子的模样”（29节）。

May we wait patiently and confidently because our heavenly Father is taking all the suffering, all the distress, all the evil, and causing them to work together for His glory and our spiritual good. He wants to make us like Jesus. 
愿我们都能带着信心耐心等候，因为天父正将所有的苦难、所有的悲痛、所有的罪恶，都结合起来交互作用，让祂得着荣耀，并让我们得到属灵的益处。祂要我们像耶稣一样。

Read 2 Corinthians 12:9, Philippians 1:6, and 1 Peter 5:10. What encouragement did you find for tough times?

请阅读哥林多后书12章9节，腓立比书1章6节，以及彼得前书5章10节。当你面临苦难与悲痛时，你可以从中得到什么安慰和鼓励呢？

Read: Romans 8:28–30

²⁸ 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. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

整理：于姊妹