God Works All Things for Good, Even Through Fire

Pastor Ed shares his family's experience of devastating loss during the California wildfires, including the destruction of his son's home in Pacific Palisades, while finding hope through Romans 8:28-29.

• Christmas Day theft of grandchildren's presents, followed by wildfire destruction, creates a testing ground for faith
• Romans 8:28 promise that "all things work together for good" points to becoming more Christlike, not to material restoration
• Everything that happens to believers must pass before God's throne of perfect peace
• Suffering reveals where we've placed our trust and provides an opportunity to grow spiritually
• Prayer is the most potent response to tragedy, followed by giving and blessing others
• His daughter's example of gathering children to forgive thieves demonstrates true spiritual maturity
• God can bring revival out of destruction, just as He did after the great San Francisco earthquake

Visit www.thefatherdifference.com/links for a free book download and information about personal coaching.

Chapters

• 0:00 The Difference a Mother Makes
• 7:20 Christmas Theft and California Fires
• 14:15 Loss of Son's Home and Family Impact
• 21:46 Romans 8:28 - God Works All Things for Good
• 29:41 Predestined to Be Like Christ
• 34:55 Prayer for Those Suffering Loss
• 38:52 Closing and Resources Available

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

How much impact do you think a mother can have on her child's life? Not just today, but for generations to come. Welcome everyone to our special live show, The Difference a Mother Makes. Today, we're talking about the influence, sacrifices, strength, and the unseen ways moms shape the future. This show is to celebrate you and to be reminded of just how important your role is in the lives of your children. So whether you're a new mom, seasoned mom, single mom, or even here to honor a mother in your life, this show is for you. We'll dive deep into the ways moms shape future, nurture art, and create legacies. So don't miss this chance to be inspired, uplifted, and reminded of the profound role you play that makes a profound difference in your children's lives. We're thrilled you're joining us because we have something truly powerful to my honor to introduce the man who will guide us through this incredible conversation. He's a former NFL player, now pastor, author, father, husband, and an amazing speaker who has dedicated his life to sharing the transforming love of God through the power of family. So grab a cup of tea, get comfortable, and let's dive in. Now, let's welcome Pastor Ed McGlass.

SPEAKER_01: 1:46

Really talking about five amazing things you can do as a mom as you face a new year with your kids. And she is a world-renowned personal trainer, life coach, and right from Mammoth, California, actually Crowley Lake. And so that's gonna happen next week. You'll be hearing about it. You can make sure you want to subscribe to our channel to find out when that comes. You do not want to miss that show. That's gonna happen next week at this time. And so today, I just uh want to share a little bit about my heart and what I think God's saying through just this absolute craziness. If you've been watching the news at all, you've seen the fire that's actually going on right now. It's it's touching a lot of people's lives. And, you know, there's a lot of blame shifting and and everything. Somehow, in the midst of all of this, the Lord's allowed all this to happen and uh to teach us, and we're gonna look at uh two scriptures that really kind of encompass understanding, you know, why we go through the fire sometimes in our life, why we we go through loss, uh, why we go through things, and and and so to kind of set this this whole thing up is we've we've had just uh a crazy time as a family. How many of you got crazy times, right? On uh Christmas Day, a driver in which we think a fake Uber car came up and stole all my grandkids' presents. While they were opening up their presents from us, their presents from their grandmother and grandpa at the other house here in Southern California were stolen out of the car. Yours truly put on his NFL jersey, called the police, and we tried to track down because the the e-fob on the car was showing us where they were. Well, we never got them. We they ripped it off and threw it in the in the thing. So I don't know what I would have done, but I put on my jersey and I was thinking about uh quite honestly kicking butt. Okay. And so that's just the way it is. Hey Natalie Friesen, love you, sweetheart. One of my daughters in in Sweden, she's just amazing, just absolutely beautiful, extraordinary, loves Jesus. So, in the midst of that, you know, that was a shocker to us, and and uh which we know the enemy loves to attack and assault, and uh and and then and then this this crazy you know time with the fires and and just absolute devastation happening. It's still going on. They ran out of water from the lakes, which I think you run out anyway with this kind of a fire. And though I do think the governor needs to be fired immediately. Don't want to overly get uh political here, but uh nobody's happy with him right now. But in the midst of all that, we're we're we're there, and uh, one of the things that makes it so tender to me, and yours truly, is my son Edward's home in Pacific Palisades is no more in one of his cars. And uh we uh he was actually back east, had the honor of being at the the ringing of the bells at New York Stark Exchange with his group and uh being honored back there. And at the same time the fire started on Monday, and uh everything that he had and owned was taken away within within within a day. The incredible, beautiful uh community, creative community, a lot of Hollywood people and all kinds of uh different backgrounds and political, you know, aspirations and things. Everything was taken, was is gone. A lot of things are very few houses remained. You watch them on the news, it's just uh gut-wrenching. And if you've gone through times where you've lost something or is stolen from you, you know, you get angry. You just you're wondering why why, God, why do you let something like that happen? And and so we get a call from Edward that their their nanny that was taking care of their kids is is is leaving. They're evacuating, Santa Monica's evacuated and in all of Pacific Palisades, and so we went out to rescue our grandchildren and bring them back to our house. Of course, they still don't know what's going on, they're still little and in the in the midst of the process, but you get you really get tested, not in the times of prosperity, you get tested when you're when things are taken away. And uh because it it shows you where you put your trust many times, and things are things, but the life of my grandchildren is just extraordinary, them them being safe and cared for. And what a what a sudden thing to do. I mean, imagine what people went through in Florida and the last hurricane, and those people, you know, in Mississippi and Georgia. When these things come, they they rock us, you know. And uh, and if they're your children, they just because you feel sometimes like as a dad or a mom, they you wish you could have protected them. Welcome, Miss Kay, and and uh got a holloway in the house. And you know, and there's a a lot of a lot of people, and you know, it's also fascinating that even though the devil means things for evil, and the scenario of loss and fire and everything up, I wouldn't ever say that this is a judgment of God. What happens is sometimes we get we're in the midst of a spiritual warfare, and and and the good and the and and those that aren't following the Lord get hit. So a lot of wonderful godly lovers of Jesus lost their their home and their schools and their their relationships, and and it'll probably take three to five years to to restore whatever could be restored there. And yet in the midst of that, what do you do? Because it happens on the you know that things come. What happens is that when there are moments, so you might you might have some people who get online and begin talking about the judgment of God. It's not that way. Hey Judy, good to be with you. She's one of my favorites there and that's down south, and uh down there when the fish are big and the sun shines always. And and Judy is one of my heroes from the watching the way she actually had to walk through just the fire of her husband almost dying and then having to bury him early. And so we all have to deal with loss. We all have to deal with things that are just uh too much for us. So when you feel that, what do you do? Where do you go? You can I I can tell you right now, moms, you can watch a thousand Hallmark movies, you're not gonna feel any better. What we're uh but what we do have to do is we can turn to a powerful truth that uh is in the book of Romans that I want to thank thank you, Justin, for praying for us and appreciate that. That really does speak to heaven's view and Paul writing to the church in Rome. And the church in Rome was persecuted, uh, Christians were killed, they were put on display in the arenas, slaughtered, babies were being aborted in gruesome ways, and yet the church, out of the ashes of all that persecution, became stronger and more powerful. And that's amazing. And uh Judy put a it's a great uh Herzog gives a great piece of wisdom that when you go through a hard time, you you go to the throne and not the phone. That's Judy. I it's one thing I love about her. She's she set her face to follow Jesus no matter what happens. And they got they went through a lot in their life, their businesses, all those kind of things. And so, what do you do? So let we're gonna turn to this verse right now and and kind of talk it through. And it comes from Romans 8, 28. And we're gonna do two verses here. And it says this that it says that, and we know for those who love God. So Paul's writing this to uh fellow Christians who understand. This is for the whole world, but he's writing this to the church in Rome that's under attack, that's marginalized. He's actually writing from a prison cell because Nero hated what he did. They he tried to stop Christianity from growing. They thought that if they killed the Christians and and tortured them in public in the arenas, that they would recant their their relationship with God. Didn't didn't happen. And he writes that, and we know because they have this history of how God answers the storm from the ashes in our life. And and you you might have gone through, I I coach a number of moms who are now single moms as well, who are trying to raise their kids and their husbands gone. Sometimes they die, sometimes they they try to kill the marriage and and leave, have an affair. And they live in this these ashes, or they've lost their their husband and now they're alone. And they go, How do I how do I deal with this? Well, you know, Paul's wisdom here, we know that for all those who love God, it's I mean, the requirement to be in this place and this revelation of this is that the most important thing that you nurture in your life is that no matter what's going on, no matter what the devil throws at you. And matter of fact, this verse that I'm teaching you today is my son Edward's birthday. And he was born on August the 8th, August the 28th. So he's our 828 baby. And he actually called me when I wrote a devotional about this yesterday on our free devotions. If you even don't get those, we'd love to send them to you. And it's all about how God meets us. Because we know that those who love God, all things work together for good. I want to understand, I want you to understand what that word means there in the Greek. It's not a it's not, it's it's not a word that's that's uh flippant by Paul. It's not a word that is, oh yeah, everything's just gonna be great. You're just gonna feel so wonderful, everything's gonna be so good. But it's a word that actually comes out of your mouth after God begins to show you through the process of his presence in your life how he is working all these things through your life to do something so profound and deep inside of you, beloved one, that you look back and you you thank him. And I remember when I I got a taste of this from somebody who I love so much, Jeannie Anderson, who's in heaven, and she got cancer early, and I'm in the uh I'm in the cancer ward with her, and she invited me to come down, and and and it's this arena on Paul Springs, and it's a it's kind of a semicircle of gals with breast cancer getting chemo all together in a room. And she invited me down and she said, I want you to come down because I have a friend that meets me right next to me who gets chemo at the same time I do every week. And I want you to come and share the love of Jesus with her. And I want you to share the love of Jesus with all the all the women in this half circle. And many of them had scar heads and they, you know, lost their hair because of the chemo, and their bodies were racked with the effects of the treatment and also cancer in their life. And it's going through and loving and blessing each one of these girls. It was extraordinary. And we're driving home in the car, and we go actually go by this gal's house who had never met Jesus, and her husband had been saved, and she gave her life to Christ. She was from a Jewish background and realized that Jesus really was the Messiah. And she received Yeshua into her life and was saved, and the Spirit of God just filled her and gave her a great season after the chemo. She ended up eventually dying of cancer, but she she ended her life with this incredible supernatural joy that only God can work inside of us. So we're driving home in a Car Wegini, and she's and she says, I've never felt more loved. And I'm so glad that the Lord gave me the gift of suffering with this cancer, and it just floored me. She's living out of that word, she works all things out for good because it's not good. There's nothing good about losing a child or losing someone early. Just know what he's doing. He's not being flippant because he's setting us up for what that good means in verse 29. We'll be there in a second. Works out all things for good to those who are called according to his purposes. See, there the the only hope for somebody who loses everything is not that the government might come through and repair your home. Or there's insurance money. You'll never be able to get back the memories. The artwork, the the treasures. I mean, imagine all the artwork that was lost and the treasures of families and the pictures, the legacies. They're just they're they're brick and mortar and wood and and they all they all blow up, they all burn up. But the secret of being able to survive a time like that is living your life and the purpose that he's made you for. Where you're discover, you're discovering and you're staying in that place where you're you're about loving other people for Jesus' sake. And it's a it's a powerful place because the devil, no matter what he throws at you, can't take away God's purposes that he has made your life for. But when you understand that you're called to God's purposes, no matter what you're going through, that all things are going to work out for good. Because, see, when God puts a purpose on you, puts a plan on you, puts a hope in his heart that your life will meet with everybody that you meet, he's got your back. And there is no arbitrary attack that comes your way that doesn't first have to pass before the throne of heaven. Matter of fact, in the book of Revelation, there's this incredible picture of before the throne, and the apostle John sees into the heavens and sees the throne of God, and there's this beautiful sea of glass with not a ripple of wave on it. If you've ever gotten a lake, and it's like you don't know where the mountain starts and the earth starts. And a sea of glass. I remember reading that and just understanding that there's not anything that comes to my life or to your life that doesn't first have to pass through that perfect peace that the throne of heaven lives in. And so he's not overwhelmed. This heaven is not like, oh my goodness, look at the the water shortage and all these things. God has got a plan to work this out for the good that he wants to work into our lives and he's using people. And when people get angry or get sideways or they blame God for those things, you can miss this incredible purpose he has for you. And so when something hard comes your way, it has to go past that perfect throne of peace. And guess who's on that throne? You got God the Father and His right hand. We have Yeshua, Jesus Himself, sitting on the throne, and the Holy Spirit, the triune God. Everything that happens to your life has got to go past that place of peace, perfect peace. And so that's a great comfort to me that when I'm going through it, or when you're going through it, because we're called according to his purposes, that he's gonna work out in us through the good, bad, and the ugly times, that he's gonna do that in our life. And Paul goes on. So let's learn what the good's all about. It's the next verse. For those whom he foreknew. So, what's the good? The good isn't a feel-good word. The good is that it points you to the person you're gonna become. Because right here is what he says, for those whom he foreknew. He knew you and I before he said, Let there be light. So he knew us, he planned on what you're going through. And if you're in LA right now, he planned for all of these things. He's got provision for you, he's got community for you, he's got all the things that you need to rebuild your life. Maybe you're going through it in your life, and there's other places in this country. You feel marginalized or demonized by people or separated. God's working out those things for his good. And here's the good, whom those he foreknew, he predestined. So he's predestined us. Which means when he chose you before the foundation of the world, he already determined what you would look like. And this is what it is that you one day will be conformed to the image of his son Jesus. When he's done, you're gonna look just like Christ. No matter what you're going through, you're gonna look just like him. And suffering is a part of this. Hey, Mr. Manzio, love you so much. The suffering that you go through in your life is part of God's way of shaping you and get this: not to trust in this world where our foundation is not on streets made with concrete, but our foundation in heaven are streets that are are made with gold. It's kind of like, I don't know if you heard about the guy who you know went to heaven and he had a big bag of bricks, and he's dragging them up the stairs at the pearly gates, and and St. Peter's there, and he goes, Well, what's this? He goes, Well, I have a gift for God. I was a wealthy man, and I I melted down all I took all of my wealth and made gold bricks, and I thought I'd bring them to give them to God as an offering. And the angels were curious, and they flew over. And as they opened the bag, they looked down and they went, Road bricks? He's bringing road bricks into heaven? Because the streets are already paved. They're already paved. Maybe you're suffering, you have lost, maybe you're in LA right now, and you're you can't make heads and tails of all of this. Well, he works all things out for good to those who love God. Your protection is to love him and and and who are called according to his purpose. And you love him and you follow him in the way he's made you for. And then, but the good is for those he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. Matter of fact, there's another scripture in the Bible that says that when we're caught up one day and we go to see him when we die, we're gonna see him as he really is because we're gonna be just like him. So the good that God is working out in you over the suffering that you're going through, over the suffering that our family's going through, is that it's gonna make us more like Jesus, which is his ultimate goal, in order that uh he might be the firstborn of many brothers. Because see, everything that God does, he does because he loves his son, and his ultimate love for us was to turn us and not only save us from our sin, but to turn us into the image of his son, that he might conform our lives through the hard things, the loss, the good, bad, and ugly to become more like Jesus. And so my trust today is that my family, my sons, and my daughters, and my my grandkids have had uh of the we have a we have a big group, we have 14 grannies, and we had uh seven here uh last night, and it was it was holy happy bedlam. And uh and so they're all gonna find out tonight about what's happened to their homes and all their things. And I I won't forget just a moment with my daughter, one of those profound things that you have with Jessica after we discovered, I told you earlier, that my grandkids' uh Christmas presents were stolen by somebody out of the back of her car on Christmas Sunday morning while they're opening their new presents from us, is Jessica got them in a circle around the Christmas tree. And they all grabbed hands and they forgave the thief. You know, honestly, my heart at that time, before that moment and and uh and looking at that, hey Whitney Music Media, she's a majing uh Whitney, what a great worship leader you are. My heart wasn't to forgive the feet. I actually, to tell you the truth, when I saw the the keyfob going up the mountain is whoever stole my kids' grand, my grandkids' presents, I put on my NFL football jersey and and my make a father's grade again hat. I was gonna go kick some butt, okay? Excuse me, gals, yeah, you know, but don't you want your husband to have some d-dun to dunce when the time's right? So I was like, somebody's going down. I was pissed. And so my wife says, use some wisdom and call the police, which we did. And I'm so glad I called him. Well, we didn't, we found the keys run out of the car. Actually, tracker. From the how we found the tile they threw out of the car that we were able to track. And I sort of laughed at myself. And you know, God reminded me of that verse, it's not by my might or power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. And when we're in these times, it's so easy for us to engage our flesh or as a mom to turn into a bear about all these things. But this is the best time to lean in and be captured by the one who absolutely loves you, that knew you before you were born, who called you according to his purposes, who put the life of Christ inside of you so that you could rise up and be the mama that God has called you to be for your kids. And I can't tell you I'm so proud of Kate. One of my daughters married to my son Edward and Jessica and Mary Lee. They're just incredible, godly women. And I'm so proud of my wife watching her just trust the Lord in the midst of all this. Because there's probably nothing that's that's harder for us as grandparents than when our grandkids are suffering. And even the bee came in to throw a little persecution our way. But all that to say is that are you in a place right now where you need prayer? And Judy had it right, you know, you you go to the throne and not to the phone. And appreciate all you that are praying for our family. Bless you, Michelle. You're just one of my faves, too. And you're a man, incredible. And and so I want to pray for you. Maybe you maybe you're uh watching from LA, maybe you're gonna get this sometime, others, and or you you're right now and you feel the ashes around you, and there's little hope. So why don't we pray together? And so if you're in a place of blessing, would you just raise your hand with me for those that we're praying with? And just because there's nothing more powerful for us than when we enter into the real battle that changes the nature of the game for people who have lost. And that's two ways. Number one, we pray, and number two, we give and we bless. So, Father, I just thank you for those that are watching. I thank you for that all things are gonna work together for your good, and you're gonna make them more like Jesus than they were before this battle started in their life. And Father, we we come together and we pray for LA that's still on fire. Father, bring your bring your your rain, bring stop these winds. Lord, uh fill up these lakes, do what only you can do. And Lord, bring healing to these communities, and as they come, rise up out of the ashes, may the revelation of love of Jesus be poured out through your church into the hearts of all these people that have so much loss. And so, Lord, I pray that you would just be with them. I pray you would just uh touch them. I pray your Holy Spirit would fall and that out of this a revival, Lord, a holy revival would would be birthed, Lord, once again. Just like the great fire in San Francisco. A holy fire of revival happened after a great fire of destruction. And uh you responded from heaven, Lord. I pray you to pour your spirit out on your church again. Wake your church up, Lord. Get your church out of the place where they've left the word of God that they would begin to preach it. Wake up your pastors and your leaders. Lord, touch them, use them. Lord, I pray that you we could be the church the way you have called us to be. I pray, Father, I pray you'd do that. I pray you would use me in my life and what we're doing, and use my brothers and sisters in their life. And I pray that you would grab their hearts so significantly that they they see suffering differently and they rejoice when they suffer, like Jesus called them to, because we're trusting in you, and we're not trusting in our in the world. And so, Lord, I ask you to bless these families. I ask you to pour out your spirit upon all those churches in LA, all those Santa Monica churches, all those places, Lord, that are still standing. Fill them, Father, and use them in profound ways. Protect the firemen, the electrical people, re-reestablishing things, the the plumbing, the gas lines, that just all of the craziness of these next months and protect the greater Los Angeles area, Lord, is only you can. We trust you, Lord. Use us the way you want to use us. And I ask you to bless my friends in the name of Jesus. Bless them all. Bless my daughter over in Europe, Lord. Bless Natalie, Lord. Just profoundly and thank you for all those that are watching at this time. And all God's people said, Amen. Thanks for for letting me share my heart with you today. I sort of do this every week anyway. I'm just I'm so grateful that you uh follow us here. Make sure you like put the like button on the social media of your choice. I I hear that even Facebook might be repenting for the way they've done things, wouldn't that be a wonderful thing? A lot of grandmas and grandpas are on Facebook. So Lord, I ask you that you would uh bless all of them and that we could partner together and do some things. And uh and uh and so if your man needs some needs some help in your life or your family needs some uh coaching, that's part of what we do. And I would be honored to be able to it uh you can go to fatherdifference.com and if you're interested in in maybe our daily devotional, that's also a free gift for you. That's uh it's going out everywhere. And uh, we're just so I'm so grateful to be able to write those and share those with you every day. Although during these crazy times, I've missed a few. So been wondering why yours didn't show up. Well, yours truly've been holding on to Romans 828 and 829. And and if you are interested in in our coaching program, that's also available online. And we want to we're our Father Difference Academy, we're launching by the end of the month. We're gonna have a lot more info for you. So anyway, that's all I got for today. Thank you for tuning in and uh let me know if there's something I can pray for for your family. I can pass along to our social media things that uh are that you're in. You you can email me at tandy at blessing of the father.com and we'll we'll get those prayer requests out and see what we can do to help you. Remember, my friends, it's never too late for God to do a miracle. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for praying, all your well-wishes from Europe and around the world and throughout the United States. You can watch this again, share it with your friends. Would you uh would you be a social media evangelist and share this on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok? We're also on Rumble. We're rumbling too, and uh get this out and and we'll watch what God's gonna do in LA. May it return to becoming the city of angels again. That's all possible. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks for here. We'll see you next week. You'll hear about it. You don't want to miss. God bless you.

SPEAKER_00: 38:41

Bye. Dear friends, imagine a world where every father feels equipped to lead with faith, love, and purpose. A world where families thrive and communities grow stronger because of devoted, Christ-centered fathers.

SPEAKER_01: 38:57

You know, beloved, that is the vision that God's put in my heart for every single family. You know, he is on the move, I believe. He promises in Malachi that before the great and coming day of the Lord, he's gonna do something profound. He's gonna turn the hearts of fathers back towards their children. So the hearts of their children will turn back to their father. That's what God is doing. I meet dads daily who want to learn to be better fathers. Yet many have never been shown how. Too many families are being fractured through bitterness and with parents and grandparents even being canceled. That's why we're launching an online community to quit men to be the fathers that God has called them to be. It's more than a program, it's a part of a movement that God is already doing to reshape fatherhood. It's a sacred calling rooted in the teachings of Christ. And we're calling this the Fatherhood Academy, where men will embark on a journey of healing and spiritual restoration that helps them transform their family relationship. And to make this vision a reality, would you consider partnering with us financially as we continue to reach and disciple every man, dad, and grandpa that comes our way? Your donation will help create a ripple across the neighborhoods, communities, you know, and ultimately our nation. Anchoring each child here's division and the unwavering love and guidance of a devoted dad. Your end-of-the-year gift right now, whether it's a one-time donation or an ongoing pledge monthly, will make a huge difference. Together we can equip fathers to build hope-filled futures for their children and their grandchildren. Remember, my friend, the Father loves you, and he sent his son to let you know. Pray it for you, Pastor Ed.

SPEAKER_00: 41:18

Click the link to donate today. Thank you for believing in this mission and joining us on this transformative journey.