All Things For Good

Summary

We open All Things For Good to the promise that God works in His providence for the benefit of His people. The aim is not to offer sentimental comfort, but to strengthen faith under pressure. Watson writes as a pastor who expects real suffering, real temptation, and real spiritual weariness. He does not treat Romans 8:28 as a slogan. He treats it as a sturdy plank that can bear weight when life feels unstable.

This book is devotional in the best sense. It is not detached from doctrine, and it is not detached from experience. Watson wants believers to think accurately about God, then to live with steadier hearts. He traces how God uses affliction, disappointment, and delay for sanctification, and he repeatedly turns us away from self focused interpretations of events. We are not the centre. God is. That is precisely why His providence can be trusted.

Because the work is compact, it reads well over a few sittings. Yet it is also the kind of book we can return to in pastoral care. It gives language for prayer when people cannot find their own words. It helps us say something more substantial than, “It will be fine.” It teaches us to put weight on God’s character and on God’s promises.

Strengths

First, it speaks honestly about suffering without falling into bitterness. Watson assumes that trials will come, and that they will test our faith. He refuses to reduce hardship to mere lessons. Instead, he calls us to look at God Himself, to see His wisdom, and to trust His timing. That kind of realism is often what struggling believers need. We are helped to interpret our lives within the larger care of the Father.

Second, Watson’s method is both doctrinal and practical. He gives reasons for confidence, not merely exhortations. He shows how God’s purposes can include humbling pride, weaning us from idols, deepening prayer, and clarifying hope. That is not a cold analysis. It is a pastoral attempt to help believers endure, repent, and worship.

Third, the writing is memorable. There is a sharpness to the way he frames the heart. He exposes the subtle ways we complain against providence while still using religious language. For pastors, that can help us address common temptations gently but clearly. It also helps us preach Romans 8 with more weight, so that comfort is rooted in truth, not in mood.

Limitations

The limitations are mostly those of genre and era. Watson can move quickly with strong assertions that assume shared theological categories. Some readers will need a little help bridging those assumptions. There is also a risk that readers use the book to diagnose others rather than to examine themselves. As with many devotional classics, the best use is humble and prayerful.

Because it is not a verse by verse commentary, we should not expect careful exegesis of every line in Romans 8. It is an extended meditation on a central promise. Used that way, it serves well.

How We Would Use It

We would use this for personal devotion and for pastoral care. It works well for a believer walking through grief, anxiety, or prolonged frustration. It also works well for strengthening a congregation’s theology of providence, which in turn strengthens courage for obedience. We can also use it in leadership settings, because leaders are often tempted to interpret difficulties as failure rather than as fatherly discipline.

For preaching, it can enrich application. It helps us press the promise of Romans 8:28 into the varied experiences of our people, while keeping the promise tethered to God’s saving purpose in Christ.

Closing Recommendation

This is a small, bracing, and deeply consoling book. It is best read with a Bible open, and with the humility that says, “Lord, teach us to trust You when we cannot trace You.”