There are two common misconceptions about 'spontaneous reactions' in biochemistry.
malate + NAD+ oxaloacetate + NADH
This reaction has a standard free energy change of approximately +30 kJ/mol, but yet the reaction must proceed as written for the citric acid cycle to provide energy in aerobic organisms. In a mitochondrion, the metabolite concentrations are manipulated so that the [NAD+]/[NADH] is approximately 20 and the [malate]/[oxaloacetate] is >1000. These combine to make the actual free energy change negative and the reaction proceeds rapidly with the rest of the reactions in this oxidative cycle.