Truth or Lie #1: God is Good
Truth: God is good.
Lie: God is good
to me only when I deserve His goodness.
His goodness
has its limits.
My grandmother will be ninety next week and struggles with Alzheimer’s
disease.
In the days following my grandfather’s death, my
grandmother would often ask, “Where’s my husband?”
We’d tell her again: “He’s in heaven with the Lord.”
The tears would well up, but each time, she'd respond, “The Lord is still good.”
We’d tell her again: “He’s in heaven with the Lord.”
The tears would well up, but each time, she'd respond, “The Lord is still good.”
I feel honored to own one of her Bibles. Handwritten on the front inside page are
these words: “God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.”
 |
| My Grandmother in her 20's |
Sometimes it seems God’s goodness has its limits.
Is He good when I fail Him?
Will He shower His goodness on me, even though I don’t
deserve it?
Is He good when life answers the opposite?
When we lose a loved one, ache from broken relationships,
watch dreams shatter, and wonder “why?” is God still good?
The truth is . . .
·
Goodness follows us every day of our lives. (Psalm 23:6)
Like a shadow, some days His
goodness is invisible. On sunny days, you can’t miss it. But His goodness is always
there.
Following behind.
·
“Great” goodness is stored up for us. (Psalm 31:19)
Some of His goodness is on
reserve. One day, we’ll enjoy it forever. For now, we trust that it’s there.
Waiting ahead.
·
2013 has been crowned with His goodness. (Psalm
65:11)
That word is literally, “encircle.”
When God allows His sun to shine on the good and the evil, He is crowning us
with goodness. When the rain falls, He is being good to all. He “crowns” the year
with His goodness.
Encircling around.
All of us.
All the time.
In God’s covenant to Israel for the coming days, He said He rejoices in doing good to His people, with His whole heart and with His whole soul. (Jeremiah 32:41)
God is good with
all that is in Him.
Sin entered the world, because we didn’t believe that.
The truth is . . . whether we understand it or not, each
one of us is hemmed in on every side by God’s goodness, lavished on us with all
of His being.
If I'm ever ninety and don't remember anything else, I pray I will remember one
thing:
God is good.
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A friend and I
just finished reading Lies Women Believe: and the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.
In the final
chapter, Nancy highlights 22 truths she feels are essential to not only
learn, but meditate on, incorporate into our lives, and have constantly ready
to combat the corresponding lies that bombard our minds.
Jesus said in
John 8:32: “The truth shall make you
free.”
Come back each Monday
(or subscribe to this blog) as we look together at these 22 truths
one-by-one.
(And feel free to
share your own thoughts below!)
Thank you for that reminder! We were just talking at church last Sunday about not being foolish, but understanding the will of the Lord from Eph 5. Big picture, His will is our salvation and sanctification: the rebirth of his creation. All that touches our lives is within that context and that overarching "good"!
ReplyDeleteoh, and that book shares some GREAT truths and insights!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited that you're Lies Women Believe. That's an excellent book. Not an easy one, but a great one. I'm looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, JoAnna! Yes, our definition of "good" often isn't the same as God's. And the ultimate good is definitely our sanctification. Thanks for your comment. Miss you!
DeleteThanks, Kim! It took us 4 years to read the whole book, so I'm going back and re-reading! You're right. . .a great book, but not easy. Thank you for being excited with me about this series. Talk to you soon!
The quote on my calendar for January goes along with your post: "The child of God is pursued by divine goodness all of his life and is NEVER, EVER able to escape it." John Flavel
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite chapters in Charnock's "The Existence and Attributes of God" is on His goodness. There's nothing like it!
Thank you for this great quote, Mrs. Tse! How wonderful to remember that it's not even possible to escape His goodness!
DeleteI'm still wading through the first 200 pages of the first volume of Charnock's book. I look forward to getting to that chapter. : )