Does Romans 8:28 promise that all things work together for good for everyone?
No. Romans 8:28 is qualified; it applies only to the believer. All things work together for good for the believer, not for the world necessarily. While everything works to the fruition of God's eternal plan, the personal promise of good is restricted to the believer.
Les explains that Romans 8:28 is a verse the whole world rests on, but it is not a blanket promise for everyone. The context asks, “For everybody?” and answers, “No. There's a qualification here.” That qualification is the believer: “All things work together for your good and mine as a believer. Not for the world necessarily.” Les clarifies that while everything is working to the fruition of God's eternal plan of the ages, in our everyday moment-by-moment experience, it is only the believer that God is working out the best for him. This may include things that are not so good at the time, but later one can look back and praise the Lord that those things took place because they brought him to where he is.
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.
More Questions
Why do believers sometimes go through bad things if all things work for good?
The 'all things' that work together for good may include bad experiences, which believers later see were used by God to bring them to where they are.