Do you know that God is good?

May 10, 2016

Do you know that God is good?

God is good.

The attribute of God’s goodness is something that children growing up in my day learned quite early:

God is great, God is good;

Let us thank Him for our food;

By His hand we all are fed,

Give us Lord our daily bread.

That’s correct theology, by the way.

Psalm 145:9, 15-16 – The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. … The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

Do you realize that every good thing in your life is from God, whether or not you believe Him and serve Him?

The fact that your lungs can pull air into your body properly.

The fact that your heart doesn’t forget to beat.

The food on your table.

The bed you sleep in.

The roof over your head.

The eyes that see the beauty around you.

The ears that hear music.

The muscles that work.

The brain that thinks.

God’s mercy and goodness is poured over this earth in abundance. He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)

James 1:17 – Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

God gives what is good because He is good. He cannot give anything but good.

God’s supreme act of goodness was sending Jesus to redeem us, and then to open our eyes to see it, granting us faith to believe and repent, and partake of the great gift of salvation.

I know there are some things in life that just do not appear to be good. But because God is good, He truly can cause all things to work together for good in our life. (Romans 8:28) He takes what our enemy brings into our life for destruction and pain, and makes it good.

We would not call sickness good, but when we experience the presence of God, sustaining us through that sickness, is He not good?

We would not call broken relationships good, but when we experience the friendship and love of God in the midst of our pain, is He not good?

We would not call the loss of a loved one too early in life good, but when we experience the hope and promise of eternal life, is He not good?

We would not call hardship, or poverty, or trauma good, but when we experience answers to our prayers, is He not good?

We would not call it good when He says “no” to our requests, but when we look back at it from our heavenly perspective will we not know then, that He is good?

How do we continue to believe in the goodness of God, even in the difficult times? We trust in His character of goodness. We run into that goodness, we sit down in that goodness, we take refuge in that goodness. By faith we believe in His goodness.

Nahum 1:7 – The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8 – O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

To “taste and see” are action words – they are words of experience. The best way to experience the goodness of God is to trust and believe in that goodness even when life is painful, scary or difficult. It is to set our faith down deeply into the truth: God is good.

And when we come through into the bounty of His goodness…

…when He does heal

…when He does answer

…when He does provide

…when He does meet us in the precious and sweet presence of His Spirit…

…we thank Him for His goodness!

Psalm 107:1,8 – Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. … Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men!

His goodness is everywhere. It is all around us…in the song of the birds in the morning, in the laughter of our children, in the affection of our loved ones, in a hug, in an encouraging word, in His word as He speaks to us.

We just have to look for it.

Psalm 33:5 - He loves righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.