We have heard it said in church all our lives that “God is good all the time and all the time, God is good.” It is taught to us from infancy that God is good and that He is working for our good.
As a very young child I started being taught that we cannot blame God for circumstances that exist because of the decisions of people and I am so thankful that circumstances in my childhood forced me to have those hard talks with the Lord early on. Understanding that back then, saved me a lot of running away from God as an adult.
In Romans 8 (verse 28) the Apostle Paul tells us:
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Paul wrote about the goodness of God being a kindness to us and mercy in the face of our repeated sins. I would never call myself sinless by any means but I do often fall to the trap of comparison. I find myself saying things like “at least I don’t do…..” and fill in the blank with whatever moral high ground I am assigning myself for the moment.
Seeing God’s goodness through the lens of Paul’s writing is an interesting read especially when you consider 2 Corinthians 11. He talks of his life in ministry and recounts that he had
“been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.” (verses 23-27)
In the face of all of that, how could he then say that God is goodness itself?
As I have studied this in the past several weeks the Lord has shown me some things about His goodness that often escape my understanding when I am in the midst of struggle.
I have struggled for years with providing for my kids on my own. I have had multiple jobs at a time. I am a teacher but I have also cashiered at stores, cleaned houses and taken dictation (among many other jobs) to make ends meet for me and my kids with a single wage earner in the home. I have endured years of “advice” from people who would say “well, you should just…” and thanked them for their concern knowing that they don’t really know how the details behind their suggestion would play out in my life.
Struggling with money as a believer puts you in a unique position. We pray for miracles like checks in the mail and “holy handshakes” to help get us through whatever need is most pressing at the moment but in reality, the miracle that has arrived more often than not is the ability and the opportunity for more work. Seeing others living more “blessed” financially often gives rise to thoughts like, “why not me, God?” or “am I doing something wrong?”
I know (not just believe) that God is good and He is good all the time. I also know that in God’s great wisdom He allows me to walk some paths through discomfort, fear, pain and need. As the Apostle Paul said “He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” But sometimes, it’s hard to feel like the good is being worked together.
As I studied this week, God brought to my memory 3 Hebrew slaves in Babylon who may have wondered for a moment about God’s goodness as they approached the furnace door, bound hands and feet to meet the fate decided for them by an evil tyrant. (Daniel 3) They answered their captor in that moment saying that God was able to save them but even if He didn’t they would never bow to another. They knew He could perform a miracle but acknowledged that God, in His goodness and wisdom, might not.
I stand today in the goodness of an all wise and all wonderful God. In my need, He is good. In my fear, He is still good. In my singleness, He is good. In my ministry, He is good. In my home, He is still good. I have children that are not serving the Lord right now and yet He is still good.
So God’s question to me this week and the one I will pass on to you is:
Is God’s good in my life enough for me?
Can I trust Him when I cannot see His hand moving on my behalf? Will I choose to trust Him when I ask and He says no? Will I still know He’s good if I never get the job, or the marriage, or the baby? Will I still know He’s good if my children never choose to serve Him even after I prayed for years? Does God’s goodness depend on me getting what I think I need?
His goodness is truly kindness to us in all of our questioning and in all of our “coming to Him.” Bring it to Him today, with an honest heart, through your tears. Just come.
God’s love for you (and for me) is boundless and limitless. Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and He is able and willing to provide, heal, and save. In my years as a single mom, sometimes the paychecks didn’t come on time and checks bounced and credit cards were maxed out but still I can say that “I have been young and now I am old; but still I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or His seed begging for bread.” (Psalm 37:25)
God is truly good all the time and all the time, He is good. He is working the good together for you even now. Look for it today. It may arrive in a different way than you imagined it would.
By Stephanie Sharp (author of Journey to the Well and director of The Well Ministries for women walking through divorce and single motherhood)
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